Community of the Year, Burghfield Santas, sponsor Hilton Reading
A group of local people having fun and entertaining the community has had an amazing outcome, saving people’s lives.
“The Burghfield Santas are a group of local residents that have created fun events for the residents of Burghfield and the surrounding area for the last 19 years,” said a nominator for the Community of the Year award.
“In doing so they have raised over £350,000 for Thames Valley Air Ambulance,” they added.
“This has helped provide life-saving care for over 100 seriously ill and injured residents of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, who were going through the most traumatic time of their lives.”
It started with a ‘Santa Cruise’ when a group of friends went out for a few drinks all dressed as Santa and started raising money while having fun.
This continued year on year and they added community events, they said. Burghfest is a community festival featuring family entertainment, local craft beers and live music. The Bulging Sack, their pop-up pub, became very popular during the pandemic, providing an opportunity for the community to get together during tough times when allowed (socially distanced), added the nominator.
“The Burghfield Santas have become pillars of their community and, without the generous support of communities like them, the Thames Valley Air Ambulance would not be able to provide pre-hospital care to those in their community when the worst strikes.
“We are extremely grateful to the Burghfield Santas and that is why we are nominating them for Community of the Year.”
It costs £3,600 for each trip the air ambulance makes and the service relies totally on donations.
The Community of the Year award is sponsored by Hilton Reading.
