'Outpour from community was overwhelming': Santa’s House lives on at Covent Garden Market

Leo Larizza, founder of the TLC Foundation charity, operates Santa’s House, raising money for sick and terminally-ill children. November 19, 2023 (Brent Lale/CTV News London)

Santa’s House is open for the holiday season at the Covent Garden Market (CGM).

A year ago, the founder of the TLC Foundation and creator of ‘Santa’s House’ Leo Larizza had planned to shut it down after a decade, but it lives on.

“The outpour from the community was so heartwarming that nobody wanted to the house to go,” said Larizza.

“Just the outpouring from the community was more than I realized. People would tell me the house was special, but I didn't realize how special it was to many families.”

Now in its third year at CGM, the house originally sat in the middle of Victoria Park until the City of London wanted it moved after the pandemic.

It was a trying four years, which Larizza admits had him wanting to give up.

“I was burned out for sure,” said Larizza, whose charity provides wishes and gifts to terminally ill and sick children from the London region.

“We were doing Santa’s House for almost ten years, and when you're there every day that you're open. You’ve got a big responsibility and then you got your other responsibilities, I guess I got burned out.”

However that much work taught him that if he wanted to keep this house going, he’d have to let go a little and allow others to get involved.

“Many families stepped forward and said, ‘Listen, if it's about running it and you're burnt out from it, we will help’,” said Larizza.

“I have some great families now, so I don't have to be there all the time.”

It’s never a smooth ride for Larizza and his charity. After this holiday season, planned construction at the CGM, will force him to once again move his house. He said the market wanted him to tear it down and move it, but that can’t be done.

“I thought it would be permanent, but the good news is there's a company that came up and they said they could move the house for us,” said Larizza.

“We’ve just got to find a place to move it to until the market's done their construction, which is in June, and then we're going to move the house back.”

So, the house will remain at CGM for the foreseeable future, but Larizza still has dreams of taking it to Storybook Gardens.

“I’ve said from day one, that’s where it belongs,” he said.

“We're going to keep talking to Storybook Gardens and seeing if, there's a possibility. They (the City of London) tell me they can’t put it there because there is a big plan for the park. We've been hearing about this plan for five years now, so they don't know if this house would fit with their plan. I imagine Storybook Gardens, but the market is great, so that’s where we're going to set our sights.”

Funds from Santa’s House go toward helping children going through a difficult diagnosis or who have little time to live. Next week he’ll take many of those children on a shopping spree where he will spend over $20,000 allowing oncology families to have a special Christmas.

The house is open at CGM until December 22, 2024.