Free Letter From Santa (merged)

[MSE Martin]

Some companies try and charge for a letter from Santa.

Forget that.

If you (or maybe your child(ren)) send a letter with a first or second class stamp on it to

Santa
Reindeerland
SAN TA1

as long as it is received before December the 13th and includes a reply address. !Then Santa will write back, with the kind aid of the Royal Mail !;)

I ho-ho-hope you save some money

Martin

Updated Note

A few more facts from the discussion below.

1. The website www.Northpole.com (http://www.Northpole.com) is Father Christmas's e-mail address apparently, and if children write there, he is now web enabled. !It seems Mrs. Christmas personally installed good ADSL up there. !(thanks to Nololly for this suggestion).

2. Even if the address to Santa isn't correct, you should usually get a reply, however the above address is the one Royal Mail say Santa prefers.

3. 2005 Christmas Note: Last year (when i first wrote this post) a few people who sent letters near the 16th didn't get replies. While the Post Office says it will reply, the early you send the better

To discuss this or ask a question click reply

[shanz_mum]

Thant's great it was posted a little while back but it's better coming from the man of saving himself.
The amount that they want to charge you is a disgrace there was one i saw that wanted £12!!!!! everyone spread the word not everyone knows about this stop people getting conned.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ONE AND ALL

[16011996]

thanks for this, our local radio is doing one but its £3.50 for the phonecall for them to send a letter. >:( cheeky so and sos.

[pauliepie]

Thanks

Do you have to put a stamp on the letter to Santa aswell!!!

paul

[jockettuk]

no we didnt put a stamp on last yr and still got a reply ..

[welshlady2k2]

I always send a letter to
Santa Claus
Toyland
Wonderland
I include my address but no stamp but still get a reply (well my daughter does) :D

[Butterfli]

Thank you for the addy. I know one little girl who'll be soooooo pleased to get a reply from Sants :)

[NOLOLLY]

FOR A FREE EMAIL USE

WWW.NORTHPOLE.COM

I HAVE USED THIS FOR MY OWN CHILDREN AND ALSO AT SCHOOL.

[elcoline]

Does it still work if we address it to Father Christmas?

I hate these "Americanisms"!

;)

[little_lil]

when we did it last year we did it to Father Christmas, North Pole and we got the reply ok. I guess it would be best to do it to the correct address in martins post to ensure it gets there tho (just incase the elves dealing with santas post are related to my postman who can't even put it thro the correct letterbox when it is correctly addressed ::) )

[16011996]

all my kids did letters last night, thanks again

[Loobeylou]

Hear hear Elcoline - I was brought up talking about Father Christmas, and hate the way Santa Claus is gradually taking over.

Thanks for the posting Martin - will use it for my grandsons.

[Butterfli]

Wow, that's a great site, Nololly!
Could hardly tear myself away from it but then I'm just a great big kid at heart ;)

I believe in Father Christmas :D

BTW, elcoline, Santa isn't an 'Americanism'
It's short for his real name - Saint Nicolas :)

[shanz_mum]

there was a post on here before from someone who used to work for royal mail they said as long as you put father christmas/santa on the envolope and obviously your childs name and addy inside "father christmas will reply letters have to be posted before the 16th though to get back in time for christmas.
they have been doing this for many years and my mum used to do it for me when i was a wee nipper!! ;D ;D

Happy Christmas

[Opal]

It's true that some of these companies are overcharging. However, not all letters are the same.

The company that I am affiliated with produces a highly personalised letter (mentioning their pets, friends etc) with free doorhanger, whereas the Royal Mail's letter is a general letter addressed to the child.

I have myself used the Royal Mail's service and it's a very nice letter with a Santa Postmark on the envelope, and considering it's free you can't go wrong.

I think it's a case of horses for courses.

[anguk]

they have been doing this for many years and my mum used to do it for me when i was a wee nipper!! ;D ;D
Us too! My parents owned a sub Post Office and my younger brother & sister sent a letter to Santa every year. (Just worked out that we 1st started sending them over 25 years ago :o, I feel old).
As long as it says Santa or Father Christmas or something like that you should get a reply.

[greatdain]

For the last two years my children wrote to Father Christmas and every morning we waited with eager anticipation for the postman to deliver a reply from the Royal Mail. Unfortunately neither child got a reply so this year we found www.fatherchristmasletters.co.uk and yes i did pay £5.99 per letter but you should have seen the kids delight when they received the letters - they were just fabulous. By writing to Santa and buying our letters we get entered into a prize draw to win £500 of Amazon vouchers so all in all i think this is a pretty good deal.

[stormshelterdave]

For those of you feeling charitable ChildLine offer this service for a minimum donation of £5. Admittedly it's not as money saving as free, but its for the kids.

Taken from http://www.childline.org.uk/content.asp?section=ExtraPage&id=218

...Simply make a donation to ChildLine (minimum £5 per letter requested) by sending a cheque or postal order (made payable to ChildLine) to Santa’s Little Helpers, ChildLine, 45 Folgate Street, London E1 6GL. Please enclose your own details and your nominated child’s name, age and address. The deadline for ordering your Letter from Santa is 3 December.

[shanz_mum]

just poped mine in the post

[wilsons]

Does posting the letter to

Santa
Reindeerland
SAN TA1

still work for Northern Ireland?

[royalsteve]

wow...i cant believe game are charing that much...cheeky beggars! 240.95, with 22.00 off...how generous

:o

[justal]

i work for royal mail and can confirm that you do not need to put a stamp on the letters to santa ;D as if any postman would surcharge one and risk the wrath of santa ;) the address is the same anywhere in the uk and so long as it says santa on it we will make sure he gets it

[kinbroke]

My daughters posted letters 2 weeks ago and recieved their letters from Santa yesterday, it has some fun stuff to do included but i wont spoil the surprise for you, you will just have to post your own ;D

[shanz_mum]

kinbroke was that through the royal mail???

[eml]

We sent our letters off to that address last week and had replies yesterday - an individual one to each child even though we only sent one letter. My 4 yr old was delighted and my 2 yr old had no idea what it was all about but was very pleased to get a letter anyway. It is a lovely idea and I would recommend it.

[justmike]

I take offense to you calling me shameful. :o For the past two years a friend and I have been producing personalised letters from Father Christmas. This isn't a money making scheme, in fact we have made a considerable loss to ourselves in both years.

At YuleMail.com we charge £4.50 per letter. For this money, unlike the Royal Mail free version, the child receives a personal letter including details such as their name, town they live in, town where they will be on Christmas morning, senders name (optional), friends name etc...

The letter is written on high quality paper and comes stamped with North Pole- Lapland.

Of this £4.50, 50p is donated to FSID (Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths) and 50p is donated to the Argus Appeal (local Sussex charity).

My colleague and I enjoy playing Santa and helping out other good causes at the same time. We have to charge £4.50 to cover all this and admin costs (ie advertising, flyers etc) which I think is very reasonable when you consider the quality of the product.

As I previously stated, we have never made any profit from this and probably never will, but at least we know we are providing a great service and help to bring smiles to children and adults faces. :)

Mike.

[Cullumpster]

Do the letters actually have personalised stuff about the kids in them or is it just a basic letter.

i'm just asking because my b/f has 2 children and they would love to get a letter from Santa Christmas (As they call him!) but i don't really know what they want for christmas and i want to get the letters sent off today.

My b/f's face would be a picture as well he'd love it bless him ::)

If you don't want to spoil the surprise for everyone can someone PM me by any chance?

[Cullumpster]

I meant the Royal Mail letters sorry ! :-[

[Al_Inshearah]

BTW, elcoline, Santa isn't an 'Americanism'
It's short for his real name - Saint Nicolas !:)


Wasn't Santa Claus invented by Coke-Cola? ;)

[wingates]

Sent for my letter now
Don`t know about the coke cola link :-/

[shanz_mum]

In the 1600's, the Dutch presented Sinterklaas (meaning St. Nicholas) to the colonies. In their excitement, many English-speaking children uttered the name so quickly that Sinterklaas sounded like Santy Claus. After years of mispronunciation, the name evolved into Santa Claus

Artist Haddon Sundblom added the final touches to Santa's modern image. Beginning in 1931, his billboard and other advertisements for Coca Cola-Cola featured a portly, grandfatherly Santa with human proportions and a ruddy complexion. Sunblom's exuberant, twinkle-eyed Santa firmly fixed the gift-giver's image in the public mind. St. Nicholas' evolution into today's happy, larger-than-life Santa Claus is a wonderful example of the blending of countless beliefs and practices from around the world. This benevolent figure encompasses all the goodness and innocence of childhood. And because goodness is his very essence, in every kindness we do, Santa will always be remembered.

[Ed...]

Wasn't Santa Claus invented by Coke-Cola? ;)

I believe, rightly, or wrongly, that St. Nick was dressed in clothes of green until Coca-Cola got hold of him as a marketing tool, realising he needed to be in bright red to fit their coporate identity!

If it's not too early, Merry Christmas to all.

Ed !:D

[MillwallSue]

I too have read some time ago that his suit was origianlly green and that it was Coca Cola who changed it to red and being cynical it wouldn;t in the least suprise me! However I must say I prefer the earlier posted explanation!

[Squidgy]

Hi

I work for a local paper, and we do santa letters for children. All we ask is that a SAE is included.

I love reading the letters from the kids, they are lovely and nearly all of them come with beautiful drawings for santa.

We hand write letters back to them.

I love Christmas! ;D

[PeteM]

My daughter's free card arrived yesterday.
She had great fun reading the message, while I ended up making the Santa, Sleigh and Reindeer display :D

[idlebloke]

I have bought a letter from Yulemail.com (Mike in Brighton (BTW thanks again) and have had the free Royal Mail ones for my kids in the past. As a previous poster has said, it 'what you pay for' (or 'Horses for Courses' (or something similar!)

We're all here for 'best deal' and if I'm contributing to charity and getting a good product........... well...........comment as above!

[shanz_mum]

how long did you have to wait for your card from the royal mail. ;D

[PeteM]

Ours (the free one) turned up after 1-2 weeks.

[elona]

My daughter got her letter from Santa yesterday
i :)t comes with a sleigh cut out that you can assembe for Santa to stop here.

She was delighted and it is well woth trying. :)

[nitnat]

Thanks!!! :)

I've just told all my collegues in the office who have children.

[nuttersinc]

it used to be the case that if you actually address your letter to santa lapland then it should be sent to lapland where they have a set up for sending letters back to the kids from santa

[Claudie]

Well a freee instant EMail from Santa !::)

Couldn't find this posted elsewhere; my little one had a great time with this one. !The reply was instant and personalised and ready to print if you want. !We had loads of fun and bookmarked it to watch the countdown.

http://www.christmassantaclaus.com/

I have just printed a "Naughty or Nice" Certificate to leave on the mat for the morning.

And the Reindeer Cam is funny .... I think it's a great site!

[Marigold123]

My daughter sent her letter to Santa at the Royal Mail address, but we haven't had a reply yet. Her dad also sent away for one in a National newspaper which he did have to pay for, and she got a printed letter from Santa with a story on the back, a Christmas card from Santa, a picture of 'the real Rudolph', (according to her), and a 'How to be Good' checklist from Santa's elves, to ensure good behaviour right up to Christmas Eve.

When I told her to go up and change her school uniform yesterday, she immediately went to look at the side of the fridge, where she has stuck her checklist from the elves. She ran her finger down the list, stopped at the part that said, 'always do as you are asked', said brightly, OK! and off she went!

As she thundered up the stairs, my partner muttered out of the side of his mouth, "Worth every penny!". ;D

[misty]

Has anyone received this yet? My son's was sent well before the 16th deadline. I'll being doing my own by the looks of things.

[JenJen]

my daughter got hers today after what seemed like forever since I posted it.

[Frances_O]

I'm editor of a local site for Mums, and I've typed up and printed off 5 letters for a member today, because the royal mail ones haven't turned up yet.... not sure if she sent it in by the last date though.......!
Misty - if yours still hasn't turned up, I can email you a copy of the letter I'm sending??
x

[leigh73]

I too sent my sons' letter to Santa at the Royal Mail address for him around the 10th December and still have not received a reply. I am really disappointed as I put a 1st class stamp on it AND included a 1st class stamp in the hope it would speed up the reply.

[PinMan]

Some companies try and charge for a letter from Santa.

Forget that.

If you (or maybe your child(ren)) send a letter with a first or second class stamp on it to

Santa
Reindeerland
SAN TA1

as long as it is received before December the 13th and includes a reply address. !Then Santa will write back, with the kind aid of the Royal Mail !;)



Martin - shame on you, I first posted the above on 24/11/05 here:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=117209

Can you remove your thread please :p

Only kidding, keep up the great work fella :xmassmile

[PinMan]

DOH - now I feel an idiot....

Just noticed your message posting date <embarressed>

Sorry :rudolf:

[MSE Martin]

No worries PinMan, "ho ho ho" :)

[Lexis200]

Hi,

I have posted this on another forum but I thought I'd stick it here too in case it's of interest to anyone...

I make up a letter from Father Christmas every year to my children and some friends kids too. I just have a basic template (changed slightly every year) which I add personal stuff to, for instance things like FC knowing they had been making tree decorations (he especially liked the glittery ones:) ) and that they had been to pantos and stuff.

I use a nice irridescant paper as I make handmade cards so always have it lying around, but to be honest white paper with snowflakes drawn in silver pen is really nice too.

To me it's a bit more personal to the child than having just their name and age on the letter which I would guess is what you're going to get for free from Royal Mail (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong :xmassmile ). For my own two I just put it on the doorstep for them, and I like that they think Father Christmas has just written to them for being good rather than replying to a letter asking for presents. Obviously there is no Lapland postmark (unless you're feeling arty) but so far none of the children I send them to has noticed that glaring error!

Anyway, if anyone fancies having a go I'm happy to email the template I use as a starting block, just send me a pm.

Hope this is of use to someone :rudolf:

[janettemellor]

I am on the parent/teacher committee for my son's school and for the last 3 years we have done letters from Father Christmas as a fund-raiser. We charged £1.50 this year and the letter includes the child's name, age and a friend/relative's name as well as the child's street name and village/town.
We have done over 150 this year up to now and of course the money raised goes straight back into the school via books, equipment etc.

[shazziere]

is martin saying we need to send a self addressed envelope for the reply?or do we just send a stamp in the letter?

[Shiggaddi]

On the subject of Santa Mail.

I work for Royal Mail, and my job is to read the mail, that the machines can't read, mainly handwritten stuff, and of course Santa Mail.

I have seen Santa mail come in all sorts of addresses, and if it's addressed to a foreign address, ie Lapland, or Greenland, then it gets sent there. Someone from Lapland send a reply back, but not sure what happens to Greenland. If it's addressed to the North Pole, Reindeerland etc then it gets sent to Belfast, and someone from the Belfast office opens the mail, and replies.

I started seeing Santa Mail this year since June!!!!

[matttheplum]

My kids have used this site for a fiew years now. They love it n get a letter(email) back every time. :xmassign:

[garron]

Nice one Martin, thanks :xmassign:

[KringleClaus]

[QUOTE=Shiggaddi]On the subject of Santa Mail.

I work for Royal Mail, and my job is to read the mail, that the machines can't read, mainly handwritten stuff, and of course Santa Mail.

I have seen Santa mail come in all sorts of addresses, and if it's addressed to a foreign address, ie Lapland, or Greenland, then it gets sent there. Someone from Lapland send a reply back, but not sure what happens to Greenland. If it's addressed to the North Pole, Reindeerland etc then it gets sent to Belfast, and someone from the Belfast office opens the mail, and replies.[QUOTE]

Out of curiousity Shiggaddi, would the Royal Mail reply to out-of-country letters to Santa? I've been trying to figure out how I could get Santa letters for my daughter from various countries (Canada, Australia, U.K., France and other postal services do this). If I included a SASE that had non-UK stamps would they use that? Or do I somehow have to get UK stamps? Also, where would I find out how much it would cost to send it to Canada from the U.K.?

Sorry for all the questions but thanks for any help!

Oh yes, and another way to email Santa is, of course, at EmailSanta.com (which I help run for my jolly boss :santa2: ). Santa replies faster than red-nose reindeer fly (and its safe and very personalized too). I "elf-scout" promise that its the best site on the Net for emailing Santa :snow_laug

Merry Christmas all!

The Head Elf
www.EmailSanta.com

[Shiggaddi]

I'm not sure how much it costs to send letters from other countries to the UK. Might be an idea to look at the websites for the mail services in the countries.

I'm sure by putting an SAE with the correct postage to the UK should ensure a Santa reply, as all that needs to be done, is put their standard Santa letter in an a supplied envelope.

Don't know how to say Santa in French though!!

I'd also imagine you would be cutting it fine, in getting the letter abroad, and getting a reply back in time though (this is based on the fact that postcards I send from my holidays in Spain take a month to arrive, lol)

[sarahlockuk]

The Santa service Royal Mail provide is totally free and most people do get replies. If you are using the Royal Mail service any legible letter to Santa will receive one, but you are supposed to use a stamp like any other letter you send in the post! (The cost of a second class stamp is far cheaper than some of the other services people offer!)

I think this free service is excellent for less than 30p to put a smile on a child's face!

Thank You Royal Mail!
:xmassign:

[$17mma]

Our DD got her santa letter from Royal Mail this week and she was thrilled to bits! :snow_grin

[annajo]

I usually get ideas off the internet and print off my own letter from father christmas for my 6 yr old godson(and the look on his face is well worth it).i use a different style of font and on the front of the envelope i usually put on that its been delivered by magic. The trick is to put it somewhere where the kids will find it without suspecting you!

[ajr]

Hi
I also do my own letters on the computer as that way makes it really personal .I answer the letter they write and decorate the envelope too.I post mine and they have never asked about it having UK stamp but if they did could say he sends all uk ones here and helpers post.

[geoff62]

A free letter from the big man, great what ever next lol TKS 4 THAT

[Tight_Wad]

Thank you....... I know one little girl who'll be very pleased to get a reply from Santa

[mybook]

Sorry if this posted in the wrong place or if this post isnt allowed then please remove the post.

We would like to offer all moneysaving expert users 50% discount on our personalised letters software.

Allowing you to create personalised santa letters and envelopes from your own pc with professional drawn backdrops. Normal Price £19.95 Please use the following discount voucher when ordering VOUCHER: moneysavingexpert (http://www.blankaccessories.co.uk). Price £9.98

You can also download a trial version

Thanks

www.BlankAccessories.co.uk

[Shiggaddi]

Forgot I was actually subscribed to this thread, but saw it in my list just now, when I logged on.

Well, the evenings are getting darker, and at work (I work for Royal Mail) I'm seeing a little more Santa mail, so Christmas is only just around the corner!!

[Parlo]

Theres good money sense and then there is penny pinching or being a chea... no I won't say it.

We order ours from a local firm for £4.25 and it comes with a personalised letter, very snazzy enamel pin badge and the recipient gets entered into a draw for a new years goodie bag.

To me that is well worth that little bit of cash. Especially when it lands on the doormat!

[Turbo_Gran]

:xmastree:
(just found out how to 'do' one of these lovely smileys.)
I am going to tell my daughter about these santa letters so she can send for one for my grandson,thanks!

[freebiehunter29]

Brilliant,thankyou.

[epitaphic]

They have really nice printable ones here:

http://www.santaclauslettersonline.com/home.asp

and they're free! :xmassmile

I printed one off and sent it to the SAN TA1 address. Fingers crossed!

[vixon]

Thanks never thought of the post box or the internet, always paid out for a letter for the children, oh how MSE has changed my life, Thanks for the tips:D

[debbie]

If you/ your child emails.www.emailsanta.com you fill in a form and get an instant reply...quite good....also a printable version....be aware that if you have 2 or more children the replies will be very similar!!

[thisuseridistakenagain]

Do you know what they say in the letter? Just i thought i'd send for one myself and include it in a prezzie for my cousin rather than sending it direct to him because ive bought a message from santa cd too and it would be nice to give both
Pm me if you dont want to give away any suprises!! thank you!!

[thisuseridistakenagain]

oops posted twice by mistake!! sorry

[eslick]

for the last couple of years its been a generic card, very nice and the kids love it

[danmar]

thankyou for this link my daughter 5 wrote her letter to santa and it broke my heart she wrote at the bottom 'instead of presents please could you send grandma back from heaven we are very sad without her' i did shed a tear or two bless her

[now a mum&skint]

thankyou for this link my daughter 5 wrote her letter to santa and it broke my heart she wrote at the bottom 'instead of presents please could you send grandma back from heaven we are very sad without her' i did shed a tear or two bless her


Awwwww weeee soul !!!! Bless her indeed, thats brought a tear to my eye. Im sorry and I hope you all have a wonderful christmas. You can tell your wee girl that her gran will be with you all, she will be in spirit and in the brightest star you can see in the sky. much love and blessings, Helen x:A

[danmar]

Thankyou for your kind reply:A

[thisuseridistakenagain]

ahh thats so lovely, maybe you could make a card with a photo of gran in it saying she wishes she could be there at christmas and has spoken to santa about her or something like that.

[Happy shopper]

ahh thats so lovely, maybe you could make a card with a photo of gran in it saying she wishes she could be there at christmas and has spoken to santa about her or something like that.

It sounds like your suggestion's made with nice intentions, but it could be a bit scary...voices from beyond the grave, wooooooo...:eek: PS no disrepect to gran intended. :o

[Natters30]

I sent a letter to Father Christmas when I was a little girl, and got a beautiful card in return. I have kept it and treasure it to this day! Aaaaaah!!!!

[KatieKins]

Well a freee instant EMail from Santa !::)

Couldn't find this posted elsewhere; my little one had a great time with this one. !The reply was instant and personalised and ready to print if you want. !We had loads of fun and bookmarked it to watch the countdown.

http://www.christmassantaclaus.com/

I have just printed a &quot;Naughty or Nice&quot; Certificate to leave on the mat for the morning.

And the Reindeer Cam is funny .... I think it's a great site!


:T
Just did this - thanks was looking for one for ages!!!

[ktflosspot]

FOR A FREE EMAIL USE

WWW.NORTHPOLE.COM (http://WWW.NORTHPOLE.COM)

I HAVE USED THIS FOR MY OWN CHILDREN AND ALSO AT SCHOOL.

Just been on here today .................IT'S FANTASTIC:T :T :T

I am printing off the personalised story books and will laminate them , one for each of ds2's pals at school.
And it's FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE:j :j :j

[miss_corerupted]

me and my brother have still got all ours we used to get and i still love, we used to get sooo excited about letters

i am wondering thou do they do Welsh as my step son is going to welsh school and a letter from Sion Corn would go down well

[karren]

Doea anyone know how i can do a personilsied reply? I did a lovely one last year and do you think i can find it this year?

[azza87]

Hi,

Can you still send letters to the address in the first post by martin?

If so what do you actually send? Does the letter have to be printed with the design or handwritten or...? I'm sorry if this is a silly question!

Thanks

[Shiggaddi]

I think as long as you include your address in there (so Santa knows where to send the letter to) it doesn't matter whether it's handwritten or typed as the Royal Mail probably just gather the name, and address, and put it in the computer, and then Santa's letter is printed out and sent.

If it's sent to the North Pole, Reindeerland etc, then Royal Mail deal with it, but if it's sent abroad (Lapland) then you get a letter from Lapland with some marketing material about visits to Lapland.

[mirandamayhem]

nigel, forgive me if you think I'm being rude, but why have you lifted every single post you can find on writing to santa?
Surely one or two would suffice?
Or even a totally different thread on a different board, as the links you're giving are not freebies?

[jap200]

Please can someone help with this thread. Most of it is now lost for obvious reasons.

I came looking for Father Christmas's 'official' postal address as my children would like to write a letter - I am looking for the one that Martin originally posted about that the PO have endorsed. I think the idea is that the children get a personalised reply from Father Christmas

[mirandamayhem]

thanks, have emailed northpole, but will right to santa too and pop in the postbox!
xxx

[karren]

I found it!!!!
http://www.dltk-cards.com/writingpaper/letter-form3.htm
I did this last year, popped in some glitter and used an old stamp so it looked franked and even fooled my neighbour!
so good luck

[Rammy]

Just got round to sorting my kids letters out. Went on http://www.freelettersfromsantaclaus.com (http://www.freelettersfromsantaclaus.com/) and selected a letter, filled in a few bits of info and downloaded a fantastic personalised letter. Also went on http://rocket-city.us/npmhu317/Sub_Pages/postmark.jpg and downloaded a postmark to print on the envelope and I'm done.
Thank goodness for the internet and good companies offering such free services, all in the spirit of Christmas.

:xmassmile MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL :xmassmile

[logan]

get your kids to write their letters to santa as normal on normal paper, put them in a normal envelope and write

santa claus
north pole

as the address and let the kids draw the stamp on, post them like normal letters and the royal mail send santa replies back to every letter (just dont forget to write their name and address on the letter lol)

[yummy-mummy-amy]

this does work, my mum used to use this address to get me and my sister to write to him.

i did it last year and my kids got a "christmas card" from santa as a reply instead of a letter.

[logan]

yeah it can vary but it makes it special when they get the reply through the post without your handwriting on it lol

[scousemouser43]

P.S Don't forget the post code
SAN.TA1

[welshdeedee]

We did this last year and my DD was so excited to get a reply of the big guy!!

[fallingstar1]

aww what a sweet idea :p

[JulieJesta]

so we do not need a real stamp on it?

[sinw]

didn't SANTA move last year?

[lindsayb]

I have found a link with more info on a letter from santa -

http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/jump1?catId=1000002&mediaId=80800761&campaignid=santa

[bumblebee87]

my daughter will love this, thanks x

[pottsy_79]

My dd will love this, just have to get her to stop saying that Santa can give her a surprise and actually give me some ideas!

[mrsv05]

same sort of idea here, there is also a link for adult letters to inject a bit of humour into xmas this year!

try www.christmaslettertips.com (http://www.christmaslettertips.com) fill in the blanks and away you go, also lots of other ideas on here i used it last xmas for my baby.

[harveybobbles]

didn't SANTA move last year?

Yes, but he got a 3 year fixed rate mortgage so he'll probabaly be having his new home reposessed...

[cumbrialink]

My grandad was at home and he thought he would write to Father Christmas at the North Pole.

He sent a letter saying he was a hard up pensioner and could Father Christmas send him a tenner so he could buy his wife a nice gift for Christmas as he had little money to live on and his wife was very ill. This will really brighten her Christmas up he wrote...

The post office got the letter and thought Awww... and they had a whip round in the sorting office and raised £5 they sent a crisp £5 note off in an envelope. It Read

Please find money enclosed for a gift from santa.


My Grandad got the money and sent a letter back to Father Christmas it read....

Dear Father Christmas i sent you a letter asking for a £10 to buy a small gift for my very ill wife. I recieved your letter this morning with £5 in it.

I bet those they !!!!!!!s from the post office stole the other fiver.



(you can't beat the old ones )

Mark

[wonderbetty]

HI, we do this every year. The address is:
Father Christmas,
Santa’s Grotto,
Reindeerland,
SAN TA1

You get a card with puzzles/activities on and a ''letter'' inside with childs name on. My little one loves it!

I used to be a temp for royal mail and from what I can remember is that every year they have a designated destination (somewhere in england) where all these letters get sent and some people sit there a typr all the names/addresses into a computer. They get printed and sent. I was also warned to try to get it done by the first week in December as they get very busy!!!

Also, if you write North Pole on the envelope, there are laws which say it has to be sent to the actual North Pole (however, I think they overlook this sometimes)!

[love2save]

I have tried this twice and my daughter didn't receive a reply either time, I used a stamp both times. Luckily for her she got a reply from the man himself by other means ;)

[andipandi72]

This site is great for kids and the adults, the santa tracker is great keeps the kids entertained on xmas eve! www.northpole.com (http://www.northpole.com)


also here are some ideas i did last year and they worked a treat for me

my two boys were getting so excited and would not go to bed last christmas on many of the nights on the run up to christmas. so the night before xmas eve i told them the elves were coming that night to put ticks or crosses on their doors to indicate if they had been naughty or nice and if they would get presents! it worked great, they went to bed early. i printed out some massive ticks and laminated them and stuck them on their door. they were so pleased and excited the next morning, i also out some on my door,we had a laugh and the kids thought the elves had been. i guess i invented a new tradition in our house!!

i also had a sack on xmas morning with a big note from santa saying that this was a sharing sack and only boys prepared to share could open the presents inside. this also worked a treat. my two boys are close in age and want similar things so i didnt want but two of everything!!

sorry for rambling but i just thought someone else might like my ideas or perhaps add some of their own!

:snow_laug

[picklepick]

awww i love the naughty or nice thing you do with your kids. i can just imagine them running out to have a look at their doors!

how does the santa tracker work on xmas eve?

[andipandi72]

hi the tracker works by showing the whereabouts of santa all over the world, and then as he is getting closer to the uk the kids cant wait to go to bed! its like a map and shows santa and his sleigh, its really good even had me believing!!

[kpwll]

Have just printed off November & December for my grandson. Thank you so much, now he'll think his Nan is really cool, lol.

[Rock Bottom]

The Diabetic Pumpkin Chiffon Pie sounds nice. :D

http://www.northpole.com/Kitchen/Cookbook/rec1060.html

[picklepick]

wow i didnt notice the recipes before. theres so many wonderful ones!

[beverleychelmsford]

Hi,

Interesting thread. For those with a printer, I thought I'd add that I recently came across a couple of free short santa letters that are printable here: http://www.rooftoppost.co.uk/fairyland_freebies.html

They're specific to particular things like there's one for Santa knowing that you'll be away for Christmas and another one (presumably for an ill child) saying get well soon from Santa... but still useful.

There's a free certificate from the elves there too, which went down well with my daughter.

(BTW The site above does sell other letters that they charge for, but I think it's nice to see the inclusion of a few freebies for once!)

[deanos]

Couple of sites, just fill in the details and print out

http://www.aaasouth.com/newsletter/1205/santa/santaletter.asp

http://www.freelettersfromsantaclaus.com/

And there is the Royal Mail site and you should get a reply, we have done for the last few years, it isnt personalised tho just the name appears, no mention of toys etc


http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/jump1?catId=1000002&mediaId=80800761&campaignid=santa

Santa is extremely busy at the North Pole, making sure all the presents, including yours, are ready and wrapped for Christmas Eve.

It’s a very exciting time for all; Rudolph and Santa can’t wait to land at your home with all your gifts. Rudolph is especially looking forward to eating the carrots you kindly leave and maybe a mince pie for Santa…

To ensure Santa receives your letter on time please can you send to the following address:

Santa/Father Christmas,
Santa’s Grotto,
Reindeerland,
SAN TA1

Santa will respond to as many letters as possible, in between getting the sleigh ready for the long journey on Christmas Eve.

In your letter please write clearly your name and address and attach either a 1st or 2nd class stamp to the envelope.

Be good and enjoy your holidays,
Santa

http://www.royalmail.com/IMAGE/MediaItemRepository/69700466_letterstosantaheader.jpg

[deanos]

If you know of anymore sites then please post below :beer:

[daio]

http://www.fatherchristmasletters.co.uk/ is another one but not free, 5.99!!
http://www.santa.co.uk/ - failed to find the price there - they even do phone calls to your kid!
http://www.thepeacefamily.force9.co.uk/santaletter.html is an online FREE varient.

[deanos]

Keep em coming :)

[mountainchrisriver]

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1191729&highlight=www.royalmail.com%2Fportal%2Frm%2Fjump1% 3FcatId%3D1000002%26amp%3BmediaId%3D80800761%26amp %3Bcampaignid%3Dsanta

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=15561759#post15561759
:D

[MiniMinni]

This is a link to the genuine Santa Claus letter

http://www.santatelevision.com/lettereng/index.html

[pinkkatie]

the kids will love this one. Just follow the instructions on the landing page to create a free personalised letter from Santa for this Xmas.
http://www.aaasouth.com/newsletter/1205 ... letter.asp (http://www.aaasouth.com/newsletter/1205/santa/santaletter.asp)


Sorry if this has been posted before, couldn't see it anywhere!

[snowberry]

Thanks for all the links. My children will defintely be getting a letter from Santa this year, I was a bit tardy last year & I haven't been forgiven yet!

[nylorac]

John Lewis offer free letter from santa, if you go up to one of their toy depatments there is a big red post box,got a indivdual personallised reply to both my girls(my eight year old wrote a letter from both of them) for free.




[/URL] http://www.johnlewis.com/jl_assets/corporate/dsnews/jlevents/johnlewis.gif (http://www.johnlewis.com/Shops/DSLocator.aspx)

Post a letter to Father Christmas

From Saturday 8 November
Kids can use our special postbox in the Toys department to send a letter straight to Father Christmas. They'll all receive a personalised reply!
[U]Find your nearest John Lewis (http://www.johnlewis.com/Shops/DSLocator.aspx)

[CLLC]

I BELEIVE IN SANTA CLAUS!!!!! :)

Thank you very much , Great freebie ;)

[NOWTHEN]

Another site for tracking SANTA is www.noradsanta.org (http://www.noradsanta.org)

It is very good it uses google earth and when he gets to each country you can click on it and it tells you about the country and customs for christmas, my liitle girl loved it.

[mazza01]

John Lewis offer free letter from santa, if you go up to one of their toy depatments there is a big red post box,got a indivdual personallised reply to both my girls(my eight year old wrote a letter from both of them) for free.

How personalised are the Letters - I have 8 and 6 year old, will they mention toys they want - just read that Royal Mail dont, only mention names

[altojack]

Just clicked on link for Noradsanta got through and clicked on Santa - don't know what to think about what thats all about - have a go

[hopwoodboy]

Hi altojack - The Norad Tracks Santa site is operated by the US and Canadian military from Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado where for 364 days a year they do boring stuff like keeping track of space debris that can pose a risk to satellites, and look for missile launches from enemy countries. However, for one night a year, they have a MUCH more important job to do with all their super hi-tech gadgets, and that is to keep track of Santa whilst he's making his rounds.

The history of why they track Santa is at - http://www.norad.mil/about/Santa.html

We have the laptop on all Christmas Eve logged onto the NORAD site and my three daughters can see when he's getting close and when they should go to bed - it's about the only night of the year when we don't get any arguments (God Bless America (and Canada!!) lol) :grin:

I recall the actual site goes live sometime in early December and I think has a countdown timer to the big night and is another way to help keep the innocence of childhood and the wonders of Christmas alive for another year. Until then the site just redirects you to the NORAD homepage which maybe isn't the most festive of sites :huh:

Anyway, a bit early maybe, but I hope all MSE readers and staff have a wonderful, peaceful and happy Christmas :xmassmile

[Angua2]

Thanx to everyone on this thread - fab stuff and you've saved me hours of trolling the net or, worse still, my memory!

Happy Christmas, all!

[emweaver]

I have done this for the last 2 years and NEVER had a reply and am rather annoyed as DD was very upset!

[dipsy81]

Thanks, i have just text this to my brother for my 2 nieces. Never done it before. Can't wait to see their faces when they receive their letters from Santa!:j :j

[ozvaldinho]

http://i37.tinypic.com/2ujma2g.jpg

[grannysmither]

I posted my children's letters off to the reindeerland address a couple of weeks ago, they are looking forward to a reply so hope they get one!

[ethansmum]

My kids did this a year or two back and got a lovely letter back from Santa. Be sure to post your letter in good time as he will reply to as many as possible.

Quote:
To ensure Santa receives your letter on time please can you send to the following address:
Santa/Father Christmas,
Santa’s Grotto,
Reindeerland,
SAN TA1
Santa will respond to as many letters as possible, in between getting the sleigh ready for the long journey on Christmas Eve.
In your letter please write clearly your name and address and attach either a 1st or 2nd class stamp to the envelope.

Via Royal mail here:
http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/jump1?catId=1000002&mediaId=80800761&campaignid=santa

[ezzmo]

This is a fab sevice.
Its not personalised the letter will read "Dear friend" but its really exiting to kids getting a letter from Santa, and its better than paying daft prices to get one sent through other means.:beer:

[ethansmum]

I seem to remember one year that you got a cardboard 'make your own santa sleigh' to cut out and fold :)

[Sporticus]

Another site for tracking SANTA is www.noradsanta.org (http://www.noradsanta.org)

It is very good it uses google earth and when he gets to each country you can click on it and it tells you about the country and customs for christmas, my liitle girl loved it.

I'd just like to say that this site is absolutley fab for the youngsters on Christmas Eve - they can watch him throughout the day and they have to be in bed before he gets to Moscow!!:rotfl: It's certainly worth having the pc on all day. I love it too but then again I'm a big kid ;)

Sporticus

[drstonk]

:T It's that time of year again, the very best site on Christmas eve

http://www.noradsanta.org/en/home.html

hours of entertainment for the whole family
my daughter who is now 11 still loves it after 5 years of it

enjoy
:T

[Pip26]

Thanks - was waiting for this to come back on and had forgotten (!) so thanks for reminder!

This is brilliant!

(drstonk, post may be merged at some point with a previous post letting us know it was coming soon)

[drstonk]

No problem, i generally check but forgot

[Rabbitx]

This is lovely, I've passed on a link to everyone I know who is lucky enough to know someone else who still believes in father Christmas. :A:T:T

[aytch]

I have a working fire, and every year my neighbors children insist on putting letters to Santa up the chimney - thank goodness he finds them!!!
:rolleyes: :rolleyes:

[Pip26]

Yes- this really is a good site - can't wait 'til my youngest nephew comes round and has a go, know he will love it (could pass on link for him to do at home but really like he has something special to do when visiting me but have passed on to loads of others) - thanks again for reminder! - great site!!!

[Jo_Mc]

My kids did this a year or two back and got a lovely letter back from Santa. Be sure to post your letter in good time as he will reply to as many as possible.

Quote:
To ensure Santa receives your letter on time please can you send to the following address:
Santa/Father Christmas,
Santa’s Grotto,
Reindeerland,
SAN TA1
Santa will respond to as many letters as possible, in between getting the sleigh ready for the long journey on Christmas Eve.
In your letter please write clearly your name and address and attach either a 1st or 2nd class stamp to the envelope.

Via Royal mail here:
http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/jump1?catId=1000002&mediaId=80800761&campaignid=santa

We've sent letters - two each year - for the last five years and have never attached a stamp and both of my children have always each received a 'reply'. I didn't know RM required an attached stamp, I always thought this was a free service :confused: :rotfl:
This year's letters came this morning - just a maze puzzle on them this time, nothing to make.

[drstonk]

http://www.freechristmasgames.com/

[ChelseaGirl]

Oh, I love these sites - more than my children I think!

[Lynzie]

I attached a stamp to the two i sent last thursday 27th of november and recieved on the 6th of december two cards from santa. I was very impressed at how quickly they came back too!

[crockerdile]

:j http://www.freelettersfromsantaclaus.com/free_printable_letters_from_santa.asp (http://www.freelettersfromsantaclaus.com/free_printable_letters_from_santa.asp)

I just used this web site to print off FREE personalised letter from Santa. As Santa always leaves his letter by the fire place in our house this is perfect!

[purplegirluk1]

We wrote a letter to father christmas with our son. He got his reply yesterday, a lovely card with a nice letter inside. The letter itself is not personalised but the envelope had his first name, George, printed on the top. A lovely, free, keepsake from his first chritsmas. I did put a stamp but it looks like they don't insist.

[drstonk]

http://www.bl.uk/ecards/indexxmas.html

British Library Ecards, classy and environmentaly friendly:p

[Mander]

Hey! I grew up in Colorado Springs (where NORAD is located) and the Air Force has done a "Santa Tracking" feature on local TV stations on Xmas Eve for years. I didn't realize they did it online now, too--it will be like a tiny bit of home for me!

Thanks for posting it!

[meemee lou]

I posted my letter in santa's sack at asda and got a two page reply mentioning child's age, address, name and presents she wanted - all free

[striker.wray]

simply click on link choose either pink or blue letter heading add your childs details then simply print out ;)
http://www.aaasouth.com/newsletter/1205/santa/santaletter.asp

[keira3ellie7mnth]

my kids drew their stamps, posted them to santa at north pole, they both got a lovely card/letter back x

[WestEndGirl]

My son didn't get a reply to his sent via the Royal Mail - we sent it on the 8th, stamped and his name and address inside...

Luckily he seems to have forgotten about it now, and I kept a copy to put in his stocking, duly ticked off, but I'm a bit disappointed :sad:

[zolablue25]

Festive bump!!

[skintsaver]

thanks very much, my little girl is writing as we speak