Villagers in Billingborough area ready to greet Santa and raise cash for charity

A team of volunteers are helping Santa bring a smile to children's faces in Billingborough and surrounding villages while raising lots of money for charity.
Children should look out for Santa on his sleigh touring the neighbourhood in Billingborough and surrounding villages. EMN-181213-104607001Children should look out for Santa on his sleigh touring the neighbourhood in Billingborough and surrounding villages. EMN-181213-104607001
Children should look out for Santa on his sleigh touring the neighbourhood in Billingborough and surrounding villages. EMN-181213-104607001

This is the sixth year that a group of local residents from Billingborough, Pointon and Horbling known as The Community Sleigh Team is off touring the streets with Santa and his sleigh raising money for good causes, having already collected £10,000 over the last five years.

‘Chief Elf’ Debbie Chessum from Billingborough said: “This year we are raising money for the Jessop Wing Special Baby Unit in Sheffield Hospital as they recently helped our local GP Dr Jonathan Parry’s grandson.

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“Baby Frank was born prematurely in August this year and was quite tiny and poorly, weighing just 3lb. He is now home with his family thanks to the care given by this amazing hospital, but Dr Parry has done so much for everyone else in the past that we thought we would do something for him that is close to his heart.”

She and Dr Parry ran the London Marathon this year and raised £22,000 for OVACOME the ovarian cancer charity.

Debbie’s husband and couple of friends built the sleigh after the friends agreed that they should do something when other organisations stopped coming around the villages with Santa.

Debbie said: “We go around as many of the local villages as we can over the space of two weeks. We go around every street and we choose a different charity each year.”

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They have already visited Pointon, Millthorpe and Folkingham and raised a total of £693. They will visit Horbling on Thursday evening, then Swaton and Osbournby on Monday December 17 and Billingborough and Threekingham on December 18,19 and 20.