St Albans festive float raises more than £16K for charity

Santa and his little helpers were kept very busy when they took to the city’s streets this Christmas, helping St Albans Round Table (SART) raise a record £16,000-plus for charity.

The annual float, organised by SART, which encourages members to get involved with their community, lapped the city 19 times between December 4 and Christmas Eve last year.

Charities to benefit include Earthworks in Highfield Park, addiction recovery centre The Living Room in Hatfield Road, St Albans and District Bereavement Network’s Bereavement Matters scheme and day hospice Grove House in Waverley Road.

The club relies on residents’ donations and for the first time ever, people were able to donate by text message.

Adam Barnes, SART chairman said: “We all had a great time taking Santa round St Albans. Being able to support so many local charities at the same time is what it is all about at this time of year.”

Members also distributed 50 festive hampers to needy people round the city on December 20, which were prepared by staff at Morrisons in Hatfield Road.

Christoph Lutz, SART’s vice-chairman, said: “This yearly tradition of delivering hampers is one of the highlights of the year for us Tablers and it is very rewarding being able to bring some Christmas cheer to people in our city who deserve our support. We also want to thank Morrisons for their fantastic support, we couldn’t do it without them.”

For more details about supported charities and membership of SART visit www.stalbansroundtable.org.uk