OKEHAMPTON District Round Table brought festive cheer to North Tawton on Friday night, December 12, with a record turnout of volunteers helping to make the Santa Sleigh visit a huge success.

Families lined the streets as children enjoyed meeting Santa, with vital funds raised to be reinvested back into local community projects. Organisers praised the town’s outstanding community spirit, saying they had never seen so many volunteers involved, and offered a special thank you to the Friends of North Tawton School (FONTS) for their fantastic support.

After finishing in North Tawton at around 9pm, Santa — still spreading festive cheer — made a surprise stop in Exbourne, interrupting a village pub quiz to present a £1,000 donation towards rebuilding the play park, which was destroyed by arson several years ago.

Round table chairman Chris Brown-Martin said: “This only happens because of the generosity of the public and the dedication of our volunteers and their families. It’s long, cold, wet nights, but seeing communities come together makes every minute worthwhile.”

Santa was back out across the district on Friday, December 19, visiting Sticklepath, South Zeal and South Tawton, before travelling from South Tawton to Hatherleigh on Saturday, December 20, his final run before returning to the North Pole.

Residents are reminded that whenever Santa is seen out and about, all donations go directly back into supporting local people and community projects.

Earlier this month, on Sunday, December 7, young North Tawton resident George Sheepy turned on the town’s Christmas lights.

Town crier Nigel Davies led the countdown from 10 before George switched on the lights around the town square and on the Christmas tree next to the clock tower.

Father Christmas and the Grinch also attended, and members of ANTS (Actors of North Tawton Society) and Young ANTS led the singing of Christmas carols and Christmas songs.