A HARDY group of fundraisers has raise more than £4,000 for charity – with a little help from Santa.

Benfleet Rotary Club braved the pre-Christmas snow and ice to tow Santa and his sleigh around the streets of Benfleet and Hadleigh.

The sleigh was pulled by a van instead of reindeer, but children and their parents were still thrilled to come out into the streets to see Santa go by.

The club has been raising money in this way for the past 30 years and was determined not to let the wintry conditions stop it.

Rotarian Wendy Goodwin, who is also a Castle Point councillor, said: “We had to cancel three out of eight nights because of the snow, but we still managed to get around most streets in Belfleet and Hadleigh.

“The response is absolutely tremendous every year. We have people chasing us down the street, because their kids missed us as we went past.”

In total, the group earned £1,500 on the sleigh run, with a further £2,500 coming from donations made at Sainsbury’s Rayleigh Weir supermarket and from Morrisons and Iceland, both in Haldeigh.

Mrs Goodwin added: “We can’t thank people enough for their contributions it never ceases to amaze me how generous they are.”

“Some people fill up their piggy banks over the entire year to give to us. We truly are grateful.”

The money will be presented later this year to a number of local charities.