HOLMES Chapel Partnership is celebrating a record-breaking Santa Sleigh run, after having raised a total of £5,111.

This is the second year that the Partnership has run the event, and the money raised will be divided between local groups.

Partnership chairman Hazel Sutcliffe said: "Peter Whiers, the Partnership project officer, and his sleigh group put in a great deal of preparatory work to make this possible, making sure the sleigh was in good working order, deciding on the routes and recruiting Santas, drivers and collectors for each night.

"Local groups will benefit from the money which will be shared between them – but they had to work for it!

"Each group who will receive a share of the takings went out with the sleigh and knocked on doors collecting money for at least one evening in December.

"This is a genuine community event. The children and their parents enjoy coming out of their houses to see Santa who delivers Christmas cheer round Holmes Chapel and the surrounding villages.

"The collectors are involved in raising money to ensure that their groups can keep running, which in turn helps to maintain the impressive number of ways in which the residents of Holmes Chapel can get together and be a real community.

"Holmes Chapel Partnership would very much like to have a brief meet-up on Saturday, February 29 at 10am at the sensory garden with all the organisations who participated in the Santa Sleigh run and raised money for their projects, for a presentation and photo opportunity."