Santa Sleigh 2022

The Easingwold District Lions Club would like to thank all the residents of Easingwold and the surrounding villages for the tremendous support given to the Sleigh as we transported Father Christmas across our district.

Father Christmas received some interesting letters and stories from children throughout the month of December, all letters were taken by Santa to the North Pole where he could read them in comfort.

The sleigh began its journey at the beginning of December and continued nearly every evening visiting the area plus weekends in supermarket carparks.

The sleigh covered around 400miles with 60 helpers both Lions and friends resulting in nearly 600 people hours. We would like to thank Chapman Medd Funeral Directors, Easingwold for sponsoring the running and maintenance cost of the sleigh.

Through the generosity of the community we collected over £11,000 which if converted to pennies, would stretch for 14 miles. An amazing sum considering the difficult time we are all going through, this is a true reflection of the generosity and caring nature of the people in our district.

The funds raised will be used to respond to requests from local people and support other groups who may not have the infrastructure to raise funds for their charity work.

We are very grateful to the ATC squadron and those other none Lions who helped by collecting, Marshalling and Santa’s

In addition to the Sleigh activity, we visited Schools, St. Monica’s hospital and elderly groups. Prepared and delivered to the local food bank 25 festive food hampers.

Our Carols in the Market Place event on Saturday 17^th December with mince pies, and baked potatoes donated and prepared by the Olive Branch, proved to be as popular as ever.

A new twist this year, involved creating a Nativity theme to the usual Christmas community sing song with a cradle and a couple of Donkeys, who stole the show.

Our thanks to the Reverend Margaret Young for providing the crib, finding the Donkeys and coordinating the evening, to Jessa Liversidge and the Easingwold Community Singers for leading us in the singing, the Easingwold town band who turn out every year to add that bit of Yorkshire brass to the evening and to Santa who arrived on time to ensure we all got home in time for Strictly.

The Lions Club have been bringing Santa to the town and surrounding villages for 25 years, every December come Rain, Snow or Frost and the Carols in the Market place for much longer. The funds raised from these events have been used to support many peoples in the community and beyond.

Lions clubs take no money from our collections to fund the charity but instead pay an annual fee to be a member, although it may appear that we work hard we also get a lot of enjoyment for our efforts and members do what they can when they can.

If these activities are to continue we need to attract new members to take the club into the next 40 plus years. If you would like to know more about the Lions follow us on our Facebook or better still contact the Easingwold District Lions by email: info@easingwold-lions.org or Tel: 0345 8335937

As an example, the past donations have included

Our weekly fish & chip distribution on Saturdays for those who are housebound continued almost as usual
Funding a Diabetes public testing team to visit Easingwold
Donation to Easingwold Friends of Cancer Research UK
Emergency fund to help with purchasing salt for laying on black ice affected pavements if necessary
Gardening items & tools as well as a poly tunnel to help with a brownies & guides allotment project
Donation to local Marie Curie Cancer support
Purchase of items to help the elderly access books etc to Easingwold Library
Donation towards the repair of a fence for Haxby Robinson Bowling Club
Furniture for the Dawnay Scout Hut for Easingwold Scouts
Donation to COZIE to help with running costs
Sponsorship of match ball for Alne Cricket Club
Donation towards cost of a caravan holiday for a local family
Donation to Easingwold Youth Council
Donation to help with cost to take part in Expedition Raleigh for a local student
Purchase of medical related equipment to help a local family
Purchase of computer equipment to support a disabled student
Donation of hampers to EDCCA Food Bank for distribution to local households needing support.
Supporting and organising the Carols in the Marketplace Christmas Carol Concert.

As you can doubtless see, even in difficult years, Easingwold Lions get heavily involved in supporting our local community and we intend to keep doing so well into the future. Indeed expect to see more of us in 2023! Hence our motto – WE SERVE!

If you or your organisation would like to apply for help from your local Lions Club, please consider contacting us.

If you would like to join us in the work we are doing for Easingwold & Villages please let us know. info@easingwold-lions.org

Have a wonderful year all of you from all the members of Easingwold District Lions!