Shawbury and Mid Shropshire Rotary raise over £13,000
Shawbury and Mid Shropshire Rotary's Tree of Light in Shrewsbury’s Darwin Centre has raised nearly £6,000.
And its Santa sleigh which visited villages, supermarkets, Shrewsbury football stadium and Cineworld made just over £7,000.
The results of these major charity fundraising activities were overall very similar to the previous year.
The ever popular Tree of Light, which will next year celebrate its 20th birthday, was switched on in the Darwin Shopping Centre, Pride Hill, Shrewsbury, following the switching on of the town’s Christmas lights on November 19.
The Tree of Light works through members of the public kindly donating a sum of money and making a dedication to a loved one no longer with them. There was a short ecumenical service on the night.
Said Shawbury and Mid Shropshire Rotary’s president Mervyn Davies: “The total is a little up on last year and takes the total raised by the tree since its inception to over £150,000 for local good causes.
“I would like to thank everyone who supported the Tree in any way, but especially those who pay for a light in memory of a loved one.
“Having read many of the letters in the past I know the comfort that this brings to people. It allows us to support three very worthy charities with which we are very pleased to be associated, including The Ark, one of the Mayor's charities that does such important work.”
The other two beneficiaries from the 2014 Tree of Light are Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s Society.
The busy Santa sleigh programme, which captures the imagination of young and not so young, was launched to coincide with the switch on of the town’s Christmas lights in The Square.
Santa, who was supported by Rotary elves, posed for photos with children enthusiastically joining him on the sleigh on a night when The Square was packed.
It was the sleigh’s first appearance since undergoing a three month makeover thanks to students and staff at Shrewsbury College.
The Santa sleigh moved to Shrewsbury Town FC’s stadium on November 29 where Rotary continued their collections for local and Rotary charities over two hours prior to kick off.
In early December the sleigh together with Santa and his elves was at Tesco. The sleigh made further appearances during the month at Asda and Morrison’s (both twice) as well as Sainsbury’s. On each occasion it was excitedly welcomed.
The first of the village sleigh tours started at Shawbury on December 8 and was so popular it returned four days later. Other villages to benefit from the sleigh programme were Hadnall, High Ercall and Bomere Heath.
Rybrook of Shrewsbury kindly provided Rotary with a towing vehicle to take the sleigh round the villages.
In addition, the sleigh toured Mount Pleasant and Sundorne and also made its first appearance at Cineworld.
Said club president Mervyn: "Both the Tree of Light and Santa sleigh resulted in tremendous totals for funds raised which will benefit many people and are the result of a great deal of hard work by our members.
“Individually and collectively they put in a tremendous amount of voluntary time and effort in both raising money and spreading some of the magic of Christmas.
“I would like to thank them and everyone who has supported us in any way over the festive season.
"It is always a pleasure to help share the joy of Christmas with the Santa Sleigh,” he added.
