Volunteers prepare to join Santa for a day on the streets in this area of Northampton – don’t miss out
A dedicated group of volunteers are preparing to join Santa and his sleigh for one day of visiting families in this area of Northampton.
‘The Duston Annual Santa Street Visit’, which is also the name of the page where you can find out more about the group on Facebook, began operating in 2021.
Every year the volunteers accompany Santa in his sleigh and travel around Duston meeting children, giving out sweets and collecting money for The Lewis Foundation. They also have Santa selfie stops where families can have pictures taken.
Stephanie Willows moved to Northampton eight years ago and explained it was her friend Liz who started the initiative with people she knew who were willing to give up their time.
The community of volunteers came together to create a sleigh and route to cover most of Duston, so Santa could see as many children in one day as possible.
It gained traction when a social media post was uploaded appealing for willing volunteers to walk the six-to-seven miles handing out sweets to children on the streets of Duston.
The group places donation boxes in different locations across the area to encourage people to give wrapped sweets, which are given out on the big day.
The route will commence from 3pm on December 21, and you can see the detailed map of the locations Santa will visit and the sweet donation spots in this story.
“It gives us so much joy and we do it for the kids,” said Stephanie. “I really enjoy it and can’t wait. I get all emotional as it’s so nice to see and it’s expensive to visit Santa, especially for bigger families.
“It’s a great, warm thing to do for the community. Every year is so busy but we make sure we do it. The children would be so upset if we didn’t. People sit outside their houses waiting for Santa, it’s lovely.”
With £328 raised in 2023 and £409 raised in 2024, the team would love to exceed this with their fundraising efforts later this month for The Lewis Foundation.
Stephanie wanted to give her thanks to Duston Community Centre for letting the team utilise the space to get the sleigh ready, as well as Shire Mobility who pull the sleigh and Craig the driver.