Santa's sleigh tour cancelled over safety concerns

An annual Santa's sleigh tour of suburban streets has been cancelled due to safety concerns this Christmas.

The sleigh visits a number of neighbourhoods in Sheffield as part of a fundraising drive by the city's Round Table group. In 2023, more than £3,500 was donated for the Cavendish Cancer Care charity.

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."

Members of the group later clarified that the sleigh itself needed maintenance work and that there was a shortage of volunteers.

Last year the sleigh spent four nights touring Greystones, Millhouses, Dore, Lodge Moor, Norton and Jordanthorpe.

The statement continued: “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."

Round Table 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.

“The motto of Round Table is to adopt, adapt and overcome, and so we have every intention of bringing Santa back to the streets of Sheffield in 2025.

"If there are any local people or businesses that feel they could contribute to upgrading the sleigh in any way, we would be very keen to have a chat with you, so please reach out to us.”

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