Santa Claus is coming (back) to town!
The magic of Christmas will be returning to Erdington from this weekend thanks to friendly local Rotarians.
Members of The Rotary Club of Erdington will be joined by volunteers when they take their sleigh out and about from Sunday as children gear up for some pre-Christmas excitement – all in the name of fundraising.
It is hoped, over the four weekends of collections, funds will top last year’s £2,600 raised.
The local routes, which take place between 4pm and around 8.30pm, are currently as follows but could be subject to change. . .
November 26th – Starting from Edwards’s Road/Orphanage Road area
December 2nd – Starting from Grange Road/Holly Lane part of town
December 3rd – Starting from Bleak Hill
December 9th – Beeches Road area
December 10th – Kingstanding area
December 16/17/th – Route still to be confirmed.
The Rotary Club of Erdington hope to help a host of local causes including Have A Hart Help The Homeless, a non-profit outreach service run by volunteers and takes
place at the rear of House of Fraser between 6-9pm on the last Saturday of the month. Further information at: https://www.hartoutreach.org/
More ways to donate, introduced since the pandemic, include contactless payments and QR codes.
Santa, along with Mrs Claus and the elves, will also be in Temple Row on Saturday, December 16th to meet the Have A Hart volunteers and distribute gifts to the homeless.
They will also be surprising some children by making special visits on Christmas Eve in partnership with Citisen, a charity for neurodivergent children, and supported by Tesco. The charity has nominated families who will struggle to provide their children with presents etc for financial reasons.
Erdington Rotarian Gary Dancer said: “We came up with this idea because last year while we were doing our sleigh run, we were approached by the father of a teenage boy with learning difficulties who asked if we could wait for his son to have some photos taken with Santa. He said seeing the sleigh was a highlight for his son at Christmas.
“Every child will receive a present that they have written to Santa to ask for. We have some toiletries for mum, and we hope to have some Christmas puddings, mince pies etc. to give them too.
“We will be asking the kids if they can help Mrs Claus and the elves find Santa because they have lost him somewhere. We hope to bring some Christmas magic to these children and alleviate some of the pressures that their parents face at this time of year “
For more information about the work of The Rotary Club of Erdington or how to join, visit: https://www.rotary-ribi.org/clubs/homepage.php?ClubID=347