Success for Santa sleigh tour in the run up to Christmas, which will return for twentieth year in 2024

It has been another successful year for the Northampton Rotary Becket Club’s Santa sleigh tour in the run up to Christmas, which will return for its twentieth year in 2024.

For almost two decades, the team has enabled families to visit Santa who may not be able to otherwise – all while raising money that is donated back into the community to a number of local charities.

Santa and his sleigh visited 15 different locations between December 8 and 21, and all were completed despite periods of wet weather throughout the month.

The Rotary Becket Club smashed their fundraising target of £8,000, with a total of £9,300 – which is an impressive 25 percent higher than last year.

The static display of the sleigh, complete with Santa, music and helpers, was also outside the busy Tesco in Mereway everyday from 11am until 7pm from December 15 to 21.

The public, particularly the children of the visiting families, responded well to the Santa sleigh and were all in the Christmas spirit – come rain or shine.

Hundreds of children turned up to have their photo taken with Santa, which helped the club raise vital funds to be reinvested back into the communities they visited across the town.

Thanks are to be given to the Rotary Becket volunteers who went above and beyond to make the festive season a special one for families across Northampton.

Each of the evening collections had between three and eight volunteers, and the static displays at Tesco had a minimum of three volunteers all day each time.

Some of the willing volunteers worked 21-hour days, with time factored in to prepare and tow the sleigh into position at the designated location.

Not only that, but the Rotary Becket team also attended a number of events across the Christmas period.

The Santa sleigh made an appearance at schools in Doddington, Duston and Billing Brook to get pupils in the festive spirit.

They also paid a visit to the Good Companions Cuppa Lunch Club’s Christmas gathering. The group brings members together to make new friends, particularly those who may have lost someone, are separated or lonely.

Finally, the team took the sleigh to Overstone House Care Home, the Santa Fun Run at the Racecourse and the Christmas light switch on Becket’s Park for the wider community to enjoy.

After what has been a successful year, the Northampton Rotary Becket Club will be back next Christmas to celebrate two decades of this annual community tradition.

The club’s treasurer David Sparrow wanted to take the opportunity to thank the manager of the Nationwide Moulton Park Branch, Traci, and her staff members Jo, Lucy and Jan. They spent many hours banking all the money, much of which was small value coins.