Hundreds of families flock to see Santa in a vintage fire engine sleigh in Portchester

It sounds like the chorus of the festive classic ‘Merry Christmas Everyone’ by Shakin’ Stevens.

But instead it was the joyful scene outside Portchester Castle last night when Santa and his ‘sleigh’ came to town.

Hundreds of people flocked to the attraction last night to see Father Christmas and his ride – a decked out vintage fire engine, complete with sparkling lights, reindeer and even a snow machine.

The festive fun was staged by firefighters from Portchester fire station as part of the team’s efforts to raise cash for needy causes.

Veteran firefighter Jasper Taylor was part of the team to help set up the Yuletide action, which is set to continue in Portchester today.

He said: ‘The atmosphere has been electric. So many people look forward to this, they just can’t wait to come out and see us.

‘We get messages on social media all the time asking if we are going to be doing this and when.

‘People just want to come out and do something. It has been a tough couple of years and I think anything people can grab hold of, to do something positive, is really great.’

As well as meeting Santa, children also had a chance to go away with a Christmas present, for a small donation.

Neil Scutt, 57, visited the attraction with his wife, daughter and grandchildren. He said: ‘This is brilliant. It’s really great. I’m really impressed with everything.’

Tracey Swanson, of Portchester, was out with her friend’s two children Nadia, four, and Blanka, eight.

The 56-year-old said: ‘My friend’s children are Polish and they don’t celebrate Christmas quite like this. They have loved coming down to see Santa. It’s just been a really lovely evening,

‘It’s brought the community together, which has been really nice.’

The vintage fire engine will be in Portchester Precinct this morning before it goes on a tour of the town in the afternoon.

As well as spreading festive cheer, the event is also raising money for The Fire Fighters Charity and for a yet-to-be-decided needy cause in Portchester

Previous collections have raised between £4,000 and £5,000, with Jasper adding some of the money would go towards supporting children or young adults with life-threatening or terminal illnesses.

‘We love to do the best we can with the money that we have,’ he said. ‘We want to do something that directly improves the wellbeing of our community.’

The sleigh will be in the Precinct from 10am.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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