Father Christmas and his sleigh have been making the rounds in conjunction with The Round Table’s fundraising campaign for Nourish Community foodbank.
Andrew Mockford, committee member of The Round Table in Tunbridge Wells told the Times: “The first night for Royal Tunbridge Wells Round Table’s Santa sleigh went really well, although it was pretty wet. The people around the Birling Road area were exceptionally generous and we collected 646kg of food.
“We actually managed to fill two vehicles, so this has been a fantastic start. Nourish were amazed at how much food had been donated.
“It’s a really positive end to the year, after the disappointment of not being able to put on the Dunorlan fireworks.
“Santa and his elves will be out and about every night this week (the last evening is Saturday). The streets we’re visiting have had leaflets posted through, so they’re aware when we’ll be popping by.
“We’d like to reiterate that we’re following strict guidelines and continuing pavement collections. We will not be knocking on doors for donations and we’re avoiding coming to people’s doorsteps.
He added: “We’ve now collected over 2 tonnes of food for Nourish. Amazing generosity from the local residents and Royal Tunbridge Wells Round Table would like to say a very big thank you to everyone for their donations.”
The Round Table are responsible for the annual Dunorlan park fireworks display which usually attracts around 12,000 visitors from across the county.
It was cancelled due to Covid restrictions in November but a spokesperson has confirmed that it has been booked for next year on the usual date of first Saturday of November, although it still remains dependent on Covid restrictions.
Santa and his sleigh are continuing to take collection until Saturday evening from 4 – 7pm. Visit https://www.rtwrt.org/santa-sleigh for more information.
