For over 40 years Santa's Sleigh has been a well-loved tradition of Christmas in Holmes Chapel and the surrounding villages. On December evenings, local voluntary groups bring Santa and his sleigh around the neighbourhood so that excited children can meet Santa at their doorstep.
The sleigh visits as many roads and estates as it can across Holmes Chapel, Cranage, Brereton and Goostrey throughout December - regardless of the weather, which was a bit wet on occasion.
Volunteer Santa’s elves collect donations en route which are passed on to local groups, charities and good causes.
The sleigh first appeared at the Holmes Chapel Christmas Market on 1st December and then had 15 nights going house-to-house round the local area, along with three Primary School visits plus an appearance at Lowe’s Farm with some real reindeer.
Santa was joined by a different local group for each outing, with some donating their share of the money raised to local charities such as the Alzheimer’s Society, Middlewich Food bank and St. Luke’s Hospice.
Groups involved this year were: Brereton Scouts, Bridge the Gap, Hermitage Primary School PTA, Holmes Chapel Community Pre-school, Holmes Chapel Chorus, Holmes Chapel Guides, Holmes Chapel Scouts, Holmes Chapel Viking Explorer Scouts, Holmes Chapel U13 Rugby Club, Holmes Chapel Velo and Holmes Chapel Tangent / 41 Club.
Peter Whiers, Holmes Chapel Partnership Chair, said:
“Seeing smiling faces and getting thank yous from children, parents and older people on our route makes the hard work of running the sleigh all worthwhile. We can only keep the sleigh going with help from volunteers each night, and the groups who take Santa round the village.
The money raised by the sleigh runs supports many local causes, as well as keeping the sleigh up and running, so thank you to everyone in Holmes Chapel and the surrounding area who made a donation this year.
The Partnership team are extremely grateful to Will Burnham and the Shed Crew, who played a major part in the sleigh rebuild in 2022 and continue to offer help to keep it on the road. Our thanks also to Lowe’s Farm for stabling the sleigh and reindeer through 2024, Hopley Tyres for supplying batteries to keep the sleigh lighting and sound system powered, and to Sam Dale & Sons for looking after it during December. ”
The Holmes Chapel Partnership have been the custodians of Santa's Sleigh since 2018, taking over from the now closed Holmes Chapel Rotary Club.
Over the past 35 years, collections made using the Santa Sleigh have been estimated to exceed well over £100,000, all of which has been shared throughout the community, and has supported many local organisations and charities.
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