SANTA’S sleigh might have been stopped in its tracks by the pandemic, but Rotarians are not letting that stop them from raising funds for local charities this Christmas.

Usually on December evenings residents are keenly awaiting Santa’s arrival as the Rotarians’ float passes around local housing estates. And shoppers at various supermarkets normally dig deep for Rotary collecting tins in exchange for a warming chocolate.

But none of this has been possible this year because of COVID restrictions. This comes on top of the Fireworks Extravaganza having to be cancelled for the same reason. Together, these shortfalls would have left the coffers empty, meaning that deserving local organisations and charities could miss out on support next year.

So instead, Woking District Rotary has gone digital with a new Just Giving page. This has been promoted with a leaflet for which Rotarians have turned themselves into posties. In the two weeks leading up to Christmas they are busy posting flyers through 20,000 front doors in the borough.

“Normally we would raise up to £40,000 each year from the various community events we run. This year they’ve all had to be cancelled, and we have now got almost no money left to support our carefully selected local projects,” said Irene Holden, joint president for the Rotary Club of Woking District

“We are hoping to raise over £10,000 from this new initiative, for the price of a bit of shoe leather.

“We are going to miss meeting the public around Woking, but hope they will continue to support us this Christmas.”

If you would like to contribute to the Christmas collection, the easiest way is to go to www.justgiving.com/campaign/Rotaryxmas2020.