Santa has returned to the streets of a Moray town for the fifth year in a row to raise cash for children’s charities in the north-east.
Sisters Janice Gregor and Yvonne Milton, both from Elgin, have been coordinating Father Christmas’ tour of the town since 2014.
Well-wishers have poured more than £7,500 into buckets during that time to support the Archie Foundation and Clic Sargent.
Yesterday Santa was on the road again in New Elgin as he was taken past the homes of delighted youngsters in a horse-drawn carriage.
Flashing red lights were attached to the horses to make them look like Rudolph while dozens of volunteers collected coins in buckets to add to the totals from previous years and festive music was blasted from a speaker system to signal the cavalcade’s arrival.
Last night, school worker Mrs Gregor explained fond memories of seeing Santa on the streets when she was growing up motivated her and her sister to bring it back.
She said: “We grew up with it when the rotary club was doing it and for whatever reason it just stopped.
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“We were doing fundraising for other things so thought it would be good to bring it back again. It’s grown arms and legs since then though.
“When we started off we had just a truck and a few helpers, then we had a horse and carriage, this year we have two horses for the first time and lots of volunteers.”
Well-wishers poured £700 into the buckets when Santa hit the streets of Bishopmill on Thursday.
Last night, Greenwards Primary School pupil Kenzie Stephen piped off the fundraising group before hundreds of pounds more were pledged.
Children lined the streets with their parents as they awaited the arrival of Santa in his carriage.
Money raised will be donated to Clic Sargent, which supports children with cancer, and the Archie Foundation, which helps youngsters and their families while they are in hospital or require long-term medical treatment.
Office worker Mrs Milton said: “When you see the faces of all the children in the streets it makes it all worth it.
“It’s an important time of year to give back, especially for children who are in hospital at Christmas or who are undergoing treatment.”
