Haverhill children will be able to meet Santa on his sleigh after some quick-thinking saved the day

An arrangement has been made late in the day that means children will now get an opportunity to meet Santa on his sleigh in Haverhill.

Santa, the sleigh and a few of his ‘helpers’ will be in Queen’s Square on the last two Saturdays before Christmas and ready to meet members of the public, thanks to the joint efforts of businesses in the square and the Haverhill Lions.

For the past few years the Lions has run a very popular grotto at Sturmer Nurseries, as well as having the sleigh outside Tesco on a Saturday, where children had the chance to sit next to Santa, have their photo taken with him and receive a little treat, with donations being put into a bucket collection in exchange.

Both those events are not taking place this year due to the impact of the pandemic.

And with the organisers of the Haverhill Santa also announcing earlier this month that the tradition of 27 years has also come to an end, the town was looking at having no sleigh for children to visit at all this year.

The brightly-lit sleigh, with Santa on board, was run by a few volunteers from Haverhill Round Table and had toured different parts of the town and neighbouring villages every year – raising some £170,000 for good causes.

Now though, the Lions has come to an agreement to put its sleigh in Queen’s Square between 10am and 3pm, maybe 4pm, on December 11 and 18, something that will complement the grotto run by the traders in the square, and its impressive festive lighting.

Grentham Rush, one of the Haverhill Lions, explained how the decision to cancel the grotto at Sturmer this year led to the new set up.

He said: “We got chatting with someone who suggested we spoke to Dave Ellis (of Ellis Interiors in Queens Square) and he said, you are welcome to bring your sleigh down here and do your thing.

“It’s just nice to get out and allow local children and families to see Santa.

“There is a lot of people out there who are prepared to give us volunteers to help us.

“We hope to have a bit of fun with the children and let everybody know we are still about.

“Many people say to us, ‘I took my children to the grotto in Sturmer and it was brilliant fun’.”

The Lions hoped to resume with the grotto in Sturmer next year, said Grentham.