Fundraising Santa gets off to a flying start in Newport
Santa and his Newport Rotary Lite elves have got off to a flying start on their tour of Newport and the villages.
Delighted residents donated nearly £700 in the first two nights of his tour of the area, and Santa’s sleigh has been seen by dozens of children of all ages.
Newport Rotary Lite's chief elf Jon Humphreys said: “We’re thrilled by the reaction we’ve received from the residents of the first few streets that Santa and his sleigh have visited.
"We’ve had people waiting in some pretty cold and unpleasant weather, and the elves have raised some lovely smiles. Some of the children seem to be in their 70s which is fabulous, this is about bringing some cheer to people regardless of when they went to school.
“The feedback we’ve been getting is just lovely, from people who saw Santa last year so have followed Facebook to make sure they saw him again this year, to children excited about seeing the sleigh for the first time this year.
“And raising just under £700 during the first two nights means we can start thinking about helping those who are really struggling for whatever reason.”
In previous years the funds raised by the tour have gone to the new Community First Responder vehicle, the X-Ray Appeal, Newport and village schools, the Community Cuppa, a minibus for terminally ill children in Chernobyl, the Newport Foodbank, Ukrainian refugees and local Scouts and Rainbows.
The group will be out every night until December 23, as well as at Waitrose on Saturday 16 and 17.
Residents can be kept up to date with the route on the Newport Rotary Lite Facebook page.
Jon added: “We know times are tough for many people, and we just hope that people enjoy seeing Santa and the sleigh as much as we enjoy doing it!"
