Santa Claus visits early this year to help raise £2,500 for The Rotary Club Crawley

A three-night tour of the Santa Bus saw hundreds of people each evening line the routes to help raise an incredible £1,416.14 through nightly bucket collections and an online Go Fund Me page.

Ed Wills, managing director of Metrobus and Brighton & Hove Buses said: “I am absolutely delighted to hear how well received the Santa Bus has been for its first ever three-day tour of Crawley.

“Given the inspiring generosity of the donations made, especially in the present economic climate, we have decided to top up the amount so the final amount raised for Rotary Club Crawley is now £2,500.”

Abolaji Odunuga, president of Rotary Club Crawley added: “'On the Santa Bus tour nights, a team of us from The Rotary Club joined the Metrobus volunteers to fundraise, and we loved how much festive joy it brought to so many people.

“A huge thanks to Metrobus and everyone, including Santa Claus of course, who supported the Santa Bus and helped by raising a whopping £2,500.

“We are already excited and looking forward to seeing what our partnership with Metrobus will bring next year.”

Metrobus have confirmed that due to its success the Santa Bus will be returning to Crawley next year and the dates will be advertised in early autumn 2024.

This was the Santa Bus’s first ever visit Crawley, having already raised over £380,000 in Brighton & Hove over the last 20 years.

The Santa Bus has over 10,000 lights and plays festive music whilst Santa waves from the upper deck.