A number of Santas dashed around Preston and South Ribble to help raise £800 for blind and partially sighted people.

Participants took part in sight loss charity Galloway’s Santa Dash in their household bubbles by running, skipping or walking 3km in their festive suits throughout December.

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Among the Santas taking part were Ian Watkinson and his sons Harry and Jackson, who did their Dash in Penwortham on Christmas Day, and Liz Halpin from Cottam, who ran 100km in total.

Charlotte Carnell, events fundraiser at Galloway’s, based at Howick House in Penwortham, said: “This year particularly was important for us to spread some extra cheer and we are so grateful to everyone who took part to help raise a staggering £800.

“Adapting the dash this year to follow social distancing guidelines meant we could encourage even more people across Lancashire and Sefton to join in and support blind and partially sighted people.

“We appreciate everyone’s effort and support. They quite literally went the extra mile, going above the 3km minimum distance, and some Santas even went dashing about on Christmas Day!

“We also want to say a big thank you to Penwortham Town Council for once again supporting our event.”

Read more: Broadgate school pupils learn about sight loss thanks to charity Galloway’s

Steve Caswell, from Penwortham Town Council, said: “The Santa Dash has been a much loved event over the past two years and we were happy to once again show our support in this new socially distanced way.

“It provided some much needed festive cheer and it was great to see so many groups of Santas dotted around the county.”

Galloway’s supports more than 7,000 blind and partially sighted people across Sefton and Lancashire.

Read more: Latest news and updates from Blog Preston

Were you one of the Santas raising funds for Galloway’s? Let us know in the comments.