Rutland Lions will be escorting Santa in his sleigh around Uppingham and Oakham this Christmas as they have for many years now.

The current Tier Two Covid 19 restrictions allow us to do this, as long as everyone complies with the "Rule of Six", however there will still be some differences.

Unfortunately, unlike in the picture picture below, Santa will not be able to invite children onto his sleigh this year, but he will be waving and "Ho Ho Ho-ing" as he passes by the homes of children and their families.

Santa's elves will not be knocking on doors, but Santa's team will be doing their very best to ensure everyone knows when Santa is down their street, and has the opportunity to shout and wave as he passes by.

Each day the evening's route will be posted on Facebook along with a map to track Santa's progress around the route.

People will just need to navigate to the map and update or refresh their computer screen's screen occasionally, so they can follow Santa to their doors.

Santa will also have one of his elves ahead of the sleigh with a seriously large bell, and of course the sleigh will be playing the usual Christmas carols and music.

The sleigh this year will have two pos tboxes, one on each side, to allow children to post a letter to Santa, with the template for this letter available shortly by downloading from Facebook or the website.

Santa's aim is to stop as infrequently as possible, typically only if a child wishes to post a letter to Santa, or someone wishes to make a cash donation, via a bucket on the sleigh. A couple of elves will be close to the sleigh, wearing face masks and will ensure social distancing is maintained around the sleigh.

Santa's aim is to reply to children's letters with the reply sent as an email attachment shortly after his visit.

Rutland Lions asks anyone posting a letter or making a cash donation to ensure they have used hand sanitiser, and have a face covering before approaching the sleigh.

Although there will be a bucket for cash donations on the sleigh, Rutland Lions would encourage anyone who does wish to make a donation to do so online via the Rutland Lions Just Giving page which will be made available before the tours start on Monday 14th December.

Lastly Santa is delighted to be able to come and meet everyone again this year, Rutland Lions would ask that everyone follows the Covid 19, Hands, Face and Space good practice.

You can visit Rutland Lions website for route information and to print off the Santa letter template.

Rutland Lions Website: www.e-clubhouse.org/sites/rutlanduk