Santa’s sleigh visits in town

Santa’s travels around Monklands continue tomorrow when the muchanticipated Airdrie & Coatbridge Round Table sleigh visits Old Monkland and Kirkshaws.

It will then be at Airdrie’s top cross from 3.15pm to 3.45pm on Sunday, followed by the Rushes Estate, near St Joseph’s cemetery, Ferguson Way, estates near the former Boots factory and Clarkston Primary; while next Tuesday will see it visit the Victoria

Park and Bishopburn Drive areas, plus Strawberry Fields.

Volunteers from the Round Table arrange and carry out the much-loved sleigh tour each year, with hundreds of children and adults across both towns delighting in the start to their festive period.

Next week’s stops for the remainder of the sleigh tour are – December 15: Carnbroe; December 18: Tesco Airdrie (3.15pm-3.45pm), Ayr Drive, Monklands estate, Chapelhall; December 20: Cairnhill.

Round Table members have been enlisting the support of other community organisations to help on their sleigh tour this year, with one of the first groups to get involved being volunteers from Craigneuk and Petersburn Action for Kids.

They received a donation of 50 selection boxes from the Round Table for their Christmas panto treat for local youngsters; and in return accompanied Santa on his magical travels around the area.

Norbert Grant of the Round Table said: “We’ve been really pleased to have the local volunteer organisations joining us on the sleigh tour this year.

“We couldn’t have done it without them.

“We arranged for 50 selection boxes to be handed over to Action for Kids

Sleigh bother Pictured with Santa are, from left, Round Table chairman Tony Murphy and Craigneuk and Petersburn Action for Kids volunteers Debbie Spiers, Sharon Stobbart, Connor Simpson, Ashley McIntyre and (front) Chantelle Mooney and Elle Beaton