Sheffield Santa's sleigh tour cancelled over safety concerns

Sheffield Round Table’s sleigh visits neighbourhoods as part of a fundraising drive for the Cavendish Cancer Care charity.

Last year it spent four nights touring Greystones, Millhouses, Dore, Lodge Moor, Norton and Jordanthorpe and raised £3,710.41, in person and via a donation page.

In a statement, the organisers said: “It is with deep sadness that we announce the difficult decision not to run the Santa sleigh this year."

The sleigh needs maintenance work and there is a shortage of volunteers, they added.

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“We have loved bringing Santa out on his sleigh, seeing all the joy on people's faces and raising funds for some really special Sheffield charities. However, the safety of the public, as well as the safety of our members, is paramount, and there are several issues that, in combination, mean we cannot run our sleigh parades this year."

Yorkshire Round Tables chair Jon Gilbert added: “Sadly the Sheffield team doesn’t have enough volunteers this year, plus the sleigh itself needs some work.

"It’s so tough on the guys, but unless they have everything in place from a health and safety and liability perspective, they just can’t put it on.”

The group said they hoped that the sleigh parade would return in 2025.

An appeal states: “Sheffield Round Table needs your help! We've not been able to run our Santa Sleigh this year - but we want to make sure this is a one-off and that we CAN do it for Christmas 2025.

“To make this happen, we need to upgrade our sleigh - but we also REALLY need volunteers around Sheffield to help put it on.

“Santa's sleigh is organised by Sheffield Round Table - a group of lads (18-45) who try to meet up every couple of weeks to try events such as axe throwing, shooting, retro arcade gaming, scuba diving, outdoor cooking and more. Importantly, we also try to get involved in community events like Santa's Sleigh.”