The Rotary Club of Sutton thanked all those who helped its Santa sleigh around the streets of Sutton before Christmas, raising more than £8,000, at a special event.

Almost 100 people supporters of the festive fundraising attended the thank-you evening at ATTFE College in the town.

Everyone who helped to support Santa on his numerous routes during December evenings received a thank-you certificate, while volunteer groups received donations, ranging from £250 to £1,000, depending on how many nights they had helped with the door-to-door collections.

Groups participating were: Duke of Edinburgh Award students, who received £1,000; Ashfield Rugby Club (£1,000) Mansfield Sea Cadets (£500), New Cross Community Church (£500), Let’s All Eat foodbank (£250), Together In Ashfield (£250), Ashfield Fire Station (£250), and Sutton Inner Wheel (£250).

Rotary president Karen Alderton, thanked each of the supporters individually, adding: “Sadly, gone are the days when Santa’s sleigh could be manned by Rotarians alone, so we invite groups from around the town to help us with the door-to-door collections and reward them accordingly.

“Without their help we could not continue our Santa sleigh collections and the Rotary club is very grateful to have this opportunity to say thank you to all the individuals and groups who supported us.”

A special mention was also made to ‘Sutton Santa’ Simon Brocklehurst (above) for his unstinting work on the sleigh at Christmas.

Sutton Rotary donated £500 to the charity of Simon’s choice, the John Eastwood Hospice, and made him an honorary member of Sutton Rotary.

Simon said: “Thank you to everyone who donated to the Rotary Santa, with your help we managed to raise more than £8,000, plus I was made a member of the Rotary Club of Sutton, so I will be able to help more as our community means a lot to us.”