Members of Crewe & Nantwich Round Table are completing their final preparations for their annual pre-Christmas float fortnight of collections around Nantwich.
And this year has been harder work than ever – with Santa’s float needing a major facelift!
When the float went into storage after last year’s collections, they noticed the floor of the trailer that carries Santa’s sleigh had started to collapse due to water damage.
Repairs meant a complicated refurbishment with costs running into thousands of pounds.
But some of the Round Table’s retired ex-members, now part of Crewe & Nantwich 41-Club, donated their time, experience and skills to complete the refurbishment at no cost, apart from the materials that were needed.
Now it’s looking pristine and ready to hit the streets of Nantwich from Monday December 2 onwards.
Chris Meredith, current President of the ex-Round Table members 41-Club, said: “Our amazing Christmas Float was generously built by Crewe based Whitby Morrison Ice Cream Vans back in 2015.
“Since then it has helped us raise more than £110,000 but the typical cold, wet and sometimes snowy weather had sadly taken its toll on the floor.
“Replacing the floor with a superior material is a mammoth task but we have all got stuck in and the new floor should hopefully last another 20 years!
“As ex-Round Table members it’s our way to help current members continue to be able spread festive cheer and raise much needed funds to support local worthy causes.”
The work entailed stripping the trailer back to its bare steel chassis for restorative rust treating, paintwork and floor replacement.
It then had to be fully rebuilt and rewired to look and sound as good as new for the run-up to Christmas.
Sean Liddle, current Chairman of Crewe & Nantwich District Round Table, added: “Our Santa float collections are the highlight of our year, spreading Christmas joy to our community and enabling us to fundraise for local good causes and charities.
“In the past year we have been able to donate an amazing £23,000 across lots of different causes and we hope to have another brilliant year collecting now that we have a revitalised float.
“Quite simply we wouldn’t be able to go out and do our collections this year without the hard work and dedication of our friends in the 41-club to repair our float for which we are ever grateful.”
Their annual two-week collections start on Monday 2nd December through until Thursday 19th December.
The full schedule of dates and routes can be seen in the official timetable (pictured, below).
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