24/12/2025
‼️ Santa Sleigh and children’s toy appeal update ‼️
Good evening everyone, well that’s a rap for the Santa Sleigh North West and children’s toy appeal for another year. As always it’s been a very, busy time of year with demand for our services increasing year after year.
This year Santa, Mrs Claus and the naughty Elf visited 4 primary schools, 1 SEN children’s centre, 1 Christmas lights switch on, a Santa’s Grotto and countless housing estates within the local area.
A very common question we get asked is are you the Rotary Club or anything to do with the Round Table. In short the answer is no we are not. We are completely privately owned and as such we can dictate when and where we go with the sleigh. Initially I took the sleigh around Garswood and Downall Green but soon after following numerous requests I included areas such as Billinge and Ashton in Makerfield.
The sleigh was built in 2020 during the Covid pandemic by myself “Jason Shawcross” so I could bring the joy of Christmas to the younger generation albeit socially distant. We are all well aware of the cost of living crisis but I am heartbroken at the shear number of children in need within our local area.
Back in 2022 a decision was made to start collecting money for what became the “Children’s Toy Appeal”
We are a completely non political and non judgemental group and liaise with schools locally asking them to identify families in need. This year we have provided toys for 70 children from 32 families within our local area. We are firm believers that no child should feel they have been forgotten on Christmas morning regardless of family circumstances. Unfortunately we are unable to help everyone, it’s not for a lack of presents but simply because we can’t make someone better or bring a loved one back.
To build the sleigh, maintain and house it, the costs have run into thousands of pounds. I will never take a penny from the money raised as we need every single penny for presents. All I would say is if you can support this group either by making a small donation or a gift it would be much appreciated.
In order to facilitate an event around a local area we rely upon volunteers. Sometimes we have lots but other times I have to give serious consideration to cancelling the event. We not only need bucket collectors but stewards to ensure a safe event. This year we nearly had to cancel some events due to a lack of stewards. Hopefully next year with plenty of advance notice more people will walk with the sleigh and embrace a fantastic community event.
The list of people I would like to thank is huge but a special mention must go to Cheryl Andrew’s 🧑🎄, Sue Murphy 😇, Glenda 😇, Amanda 😇, Senely Green Parish Council, Graham (Santa) 🎅Cllr Danny Fletcher 🫡 and everyone else who helped makes dreams come true 🙏. Thank you for your help, stay safe, lots of love.
