'We all had tears in our eyes' - Santa flies in bearing books in visit to Shrewsbury primary school
A collaboration between Shrewsbury Rotary Club and Santa Claus has ensured every child at one primary school has gone home with a new book for Christmas.
For more than five years, Shrewsbury Rotary Club has been flying in Santa Claus for a visit to The Grange Primary School in Shrewsbury.
The annual visit is an important part of the club's festive programme of sleigh visits, which sees Santa and a team of elves tour the streets and supermarkets of the county town throughout December.
For Rotary president, David Morris, the school visit is the highlight of the festive season. During Santa's visit, every child in the school is gifted a brand new book.
David said: "We've been coming here over five years now, it's the only school in town that we've got a really close working relationship with.
"It seems to be a school with more social challenges than the average school because of its geographical area.
"Every year we feel more and more emotional about it, we all have tears in our eyes. The excitement from the children is unbelievable."
David said this year has seen more residents than ever turn out for the sleigh across Shrewsbury, with hundreds gathering ahead of the schedule to welcome Santa to their streets.
He said: "We have crowds - and I mean hundreds - waiting at each location for up to half an hour before we arrive. There's more people than ever before."
Along with the Tree of Lights, the programme of sleigh visits is the club's biggest fundraiser. This year members expect they will raise around £10,000.
"Then we spend the rest of the year considering applications from local groups and then dishing out the cash," said David, who added that 2024 had been a "bumper year" for funding requests.
"We've never had so many requests from voluntary organisations, which is for various reasons - but mainly the cost of living crisis.
"Our biggest recipient is the food bank, but at the moment we've got a big fundraiser on for a new kitchen for Shrewsbury Ark.
"They've had a kitchen for a couple of years, but it's only a little kitchen. They're in need of a proper catering kitchen so we're funding that 100 per cent."
This year the team has also received help from Barclays' wealth management division, who have helped fund several projects and provided staff to help out with Santa's sleigh.
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