Shropshire Star

Shrewsbury festive fundraisers pull in nearly £13,000 for charity

Two Christmas fundraising appeals racked up £12,850 for three Shrewsbury charities.

Published
Shrewsbury Severn Rotary Club president John Yeomans, centre, with members Gareth Watkins, Bob Scaiff to his left, and to his right Fred McDonogh and Julian Wells

Proceeds from Shrewsbury Severn Rotary Club's Tree of Light and Santa sleigh fundraisers will be shared between Shrewsbury Food Hub, Sundorne Youth Club and Severndale School Futures.

Rotary club president John Yeomans said that the Santa sleigh had raised £9,250 – equal to the best ever year in 2019.

“This is a wonderful effort by everybody,” he said. “It is a big thank you to everybody who took part because it was a united effort.”

In particular, he singled out Rotarians Julian Wells, Fred McDonogh and Chris Yaxley for their respective contributions to the Santa sleigh organisation and its success.

Mr Yeomans also praised the Rotarians who took on the role of Santa.

He praised the generosity of the people of Shrewsbury, the supermarkets for hosting the sleigh and the many hundreds who welcomed the sleigh on the neighbourhood tours.

“The challenge now will be to look at a productive way of using this money in the local communities," he said.

"We have to think of some ideas and work out how we are going to use this money – we have to make our mark with that money.

“We want to give back to local communities in the best way we can and to young people in particular. We have to make it better for young people as well as old people in homes.”