Santa volunteers who brought festive joy in Gosport travelled over 400 miles and raised nearly £2,500 for good causes

The Gosportarians sleigh, which has been going around the town for the past six years during the festive period, was once again putting smiles on faces for people in the town. The Gosportarians took their sleigh on evening journeys throughout Gosport, collecting money for charity and letting children get their photo taken with Father Christmas and his elves.

SEE ALSO: Missing man found

After starting their first journey on November 25 in Lee on the Solent for the tree ceremony, the team of four Santa Clauses, three elves and three navigators embarked on 416 miles worth of journeys. And with no rain, they were able to visit many areas in the town both day and night for 17 days straight and all but four of 25 days in the build up to Christmas.

This year, the Gosportarians’ sleigh received a bit of a makeover. Along with a brand new dashboard, an extra reindeer was called in to help Santa and the team get around the town. And it did the trick as they were also able to collect just over £2,400 thanks to the generosity of people despite the cost of living crisis. The money will be donated to food banks in Gosport and the Gosport Partially Sighted Club.

Organiser Malcolm Dent, 73, said: ‘It was fabulous. We were so lucky with the weather as normally it rains a lot. But this year it was cold and meant for the first 17 days we were out every day. I imagine no one in the country did more days than we did. We managed to get around an awful lot of Gosport.

‘We had four Santa Clauses this year. They all paid a fortune for their outfit. We all love to go round and see the children’s faces and spread joy. No one gets paid. We have the best looking sleigh around and it’s all done for free. It was good to raise so much money for good causes.

‘People were so generous especially at a time when everyone is short of money. Hundreds of people turned out to see us.’