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 will be back out across the district tomorrow night, 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.