TURTON Rotary Club is celebrating another bumper year of donations after it raised £7,666 on its Christmas sleigh appeal.

The club, in conjunction with Bolton-le-Moors Rotary Club, had a busy time during the festive fundraiser, which ran for four weeks in the lead up to Christmas.

Father Christmas and his sleigh, with the help of snowmen, toured the streets of north Bolton, handing out sweets and collecting donations and also made appearances at local supermarkets, where shoppers gave generously.

Peter Gaskell, the club president, said: “I am delighted with the generous response from the people of Bolton.

“A lot of hard work goes into making sure the sleigh is operational, and our members give up their time generously, but it is all worthwhile when you see the look of joy on the children’s faces.

“It has been another successful year with donations more than £1600 higher than last year. I can assure everyone that every penny collected will go towards worthy charities.”

The president added: “Thanks must be given to supermarkets Morrisons at Harwood, Asda at Astley Bridge, and the Co-operative and Sainsbury's supermarkets and Greenhalgh's bakery at Bromley Cross for allowing us to collect at their stores.

“We must not forget to thank our colleagues at the Rotary Club of Bolton-le-Moors for their help and assistance in what has proved to be a very successful collaboration. The money will be split between a range of local good causes and rotary charities.

“We also want to thank organisations for their help during the appeal, including the RRG Toyota group, which provided a vehicle to tow the sleigh, and the Last Drop Hotel for the use of its facilities.”

The Christmas Sleigh Appeal has been in operation for more than 20 years and has raised more than £260,000.

Anyone who has seen what the Rotary Club of Turton do at Christmas with the sleigh collections, and like what they see, then there is an open invitation to come and visit the club. They meet each Thursday at the Last Drop at 6pm or visit our website to find out more about what we are about.