If you happen to come across a green Father Christmas, don’t worry – Santa has not gone ‘bio’!
He is the ‘Père Noel du Secours Populaire’ and his job is not to hand out presents but to collect them.
The Père Noel du Secours Populaire is now well over 30 years old. He is green ‘comme l’espérance’ (like hope) and hands out happiness in his aim to provide Christmas festivities and presents for families who are unable to be ‘merry’ at Christmas, due to poverty or other circumstances.
You should see evidence of him all over the region over the Christmas period.
Created in 1945, the Secours populaire français is one of the most active charities in France, dedicated amongst other things, to exclusion problems related to children and poor families, provision of food and clothing, professional integration, access to culture, sports, hobbies, health, holidays, defense of human rights…………….
Motto: « Tout ce qui est humain est nôtre »(all that is human concerns us)
