Harrogate Lions Club's Santa Sleigh WON'T go ahead
They normally parade Santa's sleigh across Harrogate raising money for local organisations.
Last updated 20th Oct 2020
Harrogate Lions Club have announced they won't be parading Santa's sleigh through the streets this year because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Many of the club's volunteers are shielding or are at risk, so the event's been cancelled in order to keep people safe.
Instead, they're hoping to visit some of Harrogate's supermarkets, sing Christmas carol's and raise money which will then go back into the community.
David Terzza, President of Harrogate Lions Club, said: "It really is unfortunate we've had to cancel this year because we know how much people love it, but we need to keep our volunteers and the public safe.
"The sleigh attracts huge crowds every year so to do the ride around this year would be too much of a risk. We're hoping to salvage some collections at supermarkets but Santa's sleigh won't be there. There'll still be Santa and people singing carols, but there won't be his sleigh.
"We're hoping we can have something which will give people a bit of Christmas cheer and hopefully we can raise some donations for local needy causes."
The event would usually start at 6pm and see Santa and his sleigh travel around the town.
It's the second time the event's been cancelled; last year it was also called off because of circumstances beyond their control.
Harrogate Lions Club have had to cancel many fundraising events because of the pandemic, so are hoping to set up a donation page so they can continue to support needy causes in the district.