A pick-up truck dubbed ‘Rudolph the red-nosed (Ford) Ranger’ will pull a Christmas sleigh across Berkshire thanks to a generous donation from Select Van Leasing.
For more than three decades now, the Woodley & Earley Lions Club, located to the east of Reading, has organised a festive sleigh pull for charity.
It’ll see Santa and his team of elves meeting and greeting countless families across the region over the course of the next month.
And this year the Club - a network of like-minded volunteers who have banded together to support the local community - will be collecting money to raise critical funds for the Woodley Food Bank.
Pulling the specially-created sleigh will be a decorated Ford Ranger pick-up donated by Select Van Leasing - the light commercial vehicle arm of Select Car Leasing - for the entire Christmas period.
Mike Kennedy, President of the Woodley & Earley Lions Club, thanked Select for the use of ‘Rudolph the red-nosed Ranger’ - as well as for arranging insurance.
He and Vice President Glenda Kennedy, Secretary Mike Tarling and Christmas Co-ordinator Philip Barry, collected the keys to the Ranger from Select’s HQ in Reading.
(Left to right: Philip Barry, Glenda Kennedy, Mike Kennedy, Mike Tarling)
And Mr Kennedy said:
“The Woodley & Earley Lions Club sleigh ride has cemented itself as a real Christmas tradition in the local area.
“We often see parents with their children who were themselves youngsters when they first enjoyed the sleigh. It’s an event that’s being passed-down through generations of the same family.
“For us it’s about the entire community coming together to spread some festive joy, while also raising funds for a worthy cause. So to have Rudolph the red-nosed Ford Ranger helping us out - thanks to Select Van Leasing - is something we’re extremely grateful for.”
The Club has raised more than £1 million pounds for charity since its inception in 1980 and has collected money for many different organisations, including supporting hospices and special needs schools as well as supplying a fully-equipped vehicle to Community First Responders.
This year focus turns to the Woodley Food Bank, and Mr Kennedy adds:
“We’re living through a cost of living crisis, so the Food Bank is clearly a worthy cause. But there are lots of other worthy causes in our local area, and over the course of a year we like to spread our resources across lots of different charities and organisations in order to help as many people as we can.”
The Woodley & Earley Lions Club’s Christmas sleigh will be special guests at Reading F.C’s Select Car Leasing stadium on Saturday 10th December, 1pm-3pm.
The matchday will see Reading take on Coventry City in a Championship clash - but more importantly it’s also a designated ‘Schools & Grassroots’ game, where tickets have been made available to kids aged 12 and under for just a quid - £1.
There are also discounts available for all age-groups as part of the scheme,
In the meantime you can see the full list of locations the Christmas sleigh will be visiting by heading to the Woodley & Earley Lions Club’s website.
Daren Jasper, Head of Commercial Vehicles at Select Van Leasing, says:
“When the Club reached-out to us for help with its Christmas sleigh pull, we really welcomed the opportunity.
“The Christmas sleigh brings so much joy to so many people - and it’s a tradition that’s familiar to many of the staff here at Select HQ, too.
“It’s fantastic to see our Ford Ranger ‘Wildtrak’ wearing its antlers and red nose so proudly! And we wish our ‘Rudolph’ well in his journey. We hope he puts a smile on many faces.”
The Club itself is part of the ‘Lions Clubs International’, a global organisation with more than 1.5 million members spread across more than 200 countries.
All Lion members are volunteers who freely give their time to help others.
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