Kirkcaldy Lions Club Santa's Sleigh cancelled amid appeal to donate to charities

The sleigh-ride normally sees well-attended visits across Kirkcaldy where Santa and his elves take donations for good causes in the area over the course of two weeks in December.

However the Lions Club say this year health and safety concerns would make the sleigh ride too difficult to organise, and they don’t want to put anyone at risk.

But now the Lions are urging the public to make donations directly to the groups that would otherwise have benefited from Santa’s sleigh collection.

Among those concerned are Kirkcaldy Foodbank, The Cottage Family Centre, Linton Lane Centre, Nourish, Maggies & CHAS.

The groups are among those who received donations from last year’s collection.

Lions Club President George Macdonald said that the club felt cancelling the event was the right thing to do.

He said: "The club took the difficult decision to cancel this year due to the pandemic.

"Whenever the sleigh arrives it's fantastic when we often see groups of people gathered at the end of the street but unfortunately this year that would have made social distancing harder - we really don't want to put people in that difficult position.

"We don't think it would be viable given the restrictions.

"There are clear health and safety concerns and it feels like the right thing to do.”

The news may come as a blow to some, but George hopes the charities can still benefit from the goodwill Santa normally enjoys in Kirkcaldy.

He added: "Everyone will miss it, not just the kids - the grown-ups too. Santa, the elves and volunteers would have enjoyed it as always, but under the circumstances it's for the best.

"It's a bit of a blow, but we can still make sure that the charities we donate to can still benefit from the goodwill Santa normally sees on his rounds."

Kirkcaldy and District Lions Club are already aiming to begin fundraising again with some events planned for 2021.