Peterborough Lions

2020 – the year that everything seems different, but some thing stay the same. Santa still wants to come and see you, and Peterborough Lions Club still want to help make that happen. But it won’t be business as usual…

To protect you, us, Santa and all the children Santa will be visiting on Christmas Eve, sadly photos with Santa will have to wait until next year, and you’ll have to trust Santa’s magic powers to know what you want for Christmas – or you can drop a note into our collection buckets if you wish and Santa will read them all before Christmas), or even better drop him an email (see below). Santa can’t give out sweets but will add them to your stockings if you’ve been good!

STATIC FLOATS

Normally you’ll find us outside various supermarkets in the run up to Christmas. COVID makes that harder for us to organise and harder for the supermarkets to find space for us. We’ll be further from the store entrance than usual, and relying on battery power rather than a mains hook-up, so we may have no choice but to finish earlier than planned.

MOBILE FLOATS

Our trips around Peterborough streets with Santa are well received and a highlight of our year, as well as being one of our biggest fundraisers.

We are working hard to make sure that we can bring Santa to you where we can (even though we won’t be able to fundraise), but we are still waiting on the insurance and authorisation to proceed – watch this space, or follow us on Facebook!

We will be out again this year – Santa insisted! – but with limitations: Santa and his driver can only have 4 helpers so we cannot knock on doors and collect money, and Santa cannot stop to talk to anyone, have photos, or give out sweets. He promises that this is so he can be sure to see everyone while they are sleeping on Christmas Eve, and that he’ll make sure you don’t miss out on treats.

As we cannot collect, this year is all about spreading good cheer, so please do wave from your windows and sing along as we pass. If you do come out on the street please remember to social distance and don’t be too disappointed that we can’t stop to chat.

We will follow the routes of previous years but we will not be sharing exact start timings ahead of time so as to reduce the risk of crowds gathering. You will be able to track Santa on the night via our Facebook Page, technology permitting!

As we cannot stop we would expect to operate the routes faster than usual; typically 6pm-8pm for Orton Wistow and Stanground, 5pm-7pm for Netherton as it’s on a Sunday.

REMEMBER

• No close contact with Santa can be allowed. This upsets Santa too, but he insists that we keep everyone safe.
• No close contact with Santa’s helpers either, although this will obviously upset far fewer people!
• For mobile floats, we will not be able to stop, nor can we knock on doors.
• We are limited to socially distanced teams of six including Santa. Please make allowances for this, we’re trying as hard as we can!

FUNDRAISING

Our fundraising efforts for local causes, including this year’s President’s Project supporting Peterborough Rape Crisis Care Group, continues but is severely hampered by COVID. We welcome all donations (or why not get yourself a quiz sheet?)

YOU CAN STILL SAY HELLO TO SANTA!

If you email we’ll make sure your email is passed on to Santa. So if you have any questions, or want to tell him what you want for Christmas, or just want to say “Hi”, drop him a line!