The familiar jingle of festive bells will be visiting local area again this year thanks to a volunteers who have stepped forward to support Kinver Rotarians accommodate revised routes.
Rotarians and more than 60 helpers will be taking their sleigh out and about in Kinver, Enville, Stourton and parts of Wollaston and Wall Heath next month as children gear up for some pre-Christmas excitement – all in the name of fundraising.
It will mark a return to the streets for The Rotary Club of Kinver’s traditional charity sleigh, which has raised more than £150k since 1986, this year visiting extra homes on the newest housing estates.
Kinver Rotarian Roy Sanders, who has played a leading role throughout the life of the sleigh, said: “Volunteer non-Rotary members have featured in the sleigh celebrations of the Rotary Club of Kinver for many years and they are needed more than ever this year as new housing developments in and around the village have led to the club rethinking the organisation of its Christmas sleigh charity collections.
“We have been delighted to receive a tremendous response to our request for volunteers. This has ensured that we will be able to visit all the regular routes and five primary schools, bringing Christmas cheer to the young and not-so-young.”
Prior to the start of the house-to-house collections, the sleigh will form a focal point of the village’s late night shopping initiative on Saturday, November 29th and will be attending the Mary Stevens Hospice Santa jog on Sunday, December 7th, followed later that day with a trip to the official switch-on of the Christmas lights at Kinver’s neighbouring village of Enville.
It will also be taken to five primary schools as surprise visits over the course of the following week.
Kinver Rotary Club President Graham Smith said: “We are delighted that we have been able to incorporate the new housing developments around the village, giving even more families than ever the opportunity to enjoy a pre-Christmas visit to their homes by Santa on what we feel is a most impressive sleigh that has been the basis of our biggest annual fund raiser over the 40 years of our existence.
“The team of non-Rotarian volunteers will ensure this particular Christmas treat will go ahead in its entirety and we are planning a thank you evening for them on February 26th.”
The local routes (running between 6pm-9pm and 9am-5pm) are as follows. . .
Monday, December 8th: Kinver – Dark Lane and Dunsley.
Tuesday, Dec 9: Wollaston – Somerset Drive, Richmond Grove, Gerald Road.
Wednesday, December 10th: Kinver – White Hill, Meddins Lane, Edge View Walk.
Thursday, December 11th: Wall Heath – Millers Green Drive, Windmill Grove.
Friday, December 12th: Stourton/Kinver – Prestwood House, Stewponey, Stourton Crescent, Kinver High Street.
Monday, December 15th: Wollaston – Richardson Drive, Doulton Brook, High Street.
Tuesday, December 16th: Stourton/Wollaston – Hyperion Road, Ridgewood Avenue, Eggington Road.
Wednesday, December 17th: Kinver/Enville – Hyde Lane (Kinver), Enville.
Thursday, December 18th: Wollaston – Belfrey Drive, Wolverley Ave, Wollaston Court.
Friday, December 19th: Kinver – Stone Lane, Church View Gardens.
For more information about the Rotary Club of Kinver visit: https://rotary-ribi.org/clubs/homepage.php?ClubID=1574