Father Christmas will tour Putney streets for the next two weeks as the Rotary Club of Putney continues a beloved tradition that’s been delighting local children for more than four decades.
The club’s famous festive sleigh will make four separate evening tours between 6-9pm, bringing Christmas carols and Santa himself to neighbourhoods across SW15. Volunteers with big red buckets – and contactless card readers – will collect donations that fund both local community projects and international humanitarian work.
“Rotarians are humanitarians and we are ‘People of Action’ – we are boots on the ground in our community,” the club explains on its special Xmas page. “The valuable work we do for communities locally and internationally often requires financial assistance.”
The annual Christmas collections represent the club’s biggest fundraiser, bringing in over £5,000 each year.
Where Santa’s visiting
Route 1 – Wednesday 3rd December, 6-9pm Roads between the River Thames and Felsham Road, bounded by Bemish Road and Sefton/Erphingham Roads.
Route 2 – Tuesday 9th December, 6-9pm Roads between Felsham Road and Clarendon Drive, bounded by Charlwood Road and Lower Common South.
Route 3 – Thursday 11th December, 6-9pm Roads between Upper Richmond Road and Hazlewell Road, bounded by Gwendolen Avenue and Woodborough Road.
Route 4 – Tuesday 16th December, 6-9pm Roads between Hazlewell Road and Westleigh Avenue, bounded by Putney Hill and Granard Avenue.
Interactive Map
View the interactive route map to see exactly when Santa will visit your street. Zoom in to find your road and check which evening the sleigh will be collecting in your area.
Multiple ways to donate
Volunteers will carry traditional red collection buckets accepting cash in any currency. But the club has modernised its collection methods – six card payment devices will be available accepting Mastercard, Visa, American Express, Apple Pay and Google Pay.
“Simply tell us how much you’d like to donate and tap your card/device on our card reader,” the club advises. “Receipts via text message available on request.” Residents who miss the sleigh can donate online via the club’s website.
Where your donations go
The Putney Rotary Club directs funds to projects spanning from local youth programmes to international disaster relief.
Local community work includes installing a lifesaving defibrillator in the Putney Exchange, providing fitness equipment to the Wandsworth Salvation Army, and collecting books, puzzles and games for prisoners at Wandsworth Prison. The club also plants thousands of purple crocus corms each year in local parks—including a distinctive Rotary wheel design of 3,200 crocuses in Wandsworth Park for the End Polio Now campaign.
Youth programmes represent a major focus. The club runs competitions for local schoolchildren in debate (Youth Speaks), writing, art, cookery, photography, music and science, with winners progressing from local heats through district and regional levels to national competitions. The club was also a founding partner of the Wandsworth Young Person of the Year award.
Environmental initiatives include regular litter-picking events along the River Thames and in local parks, working alongside Friends of Wandsworth Park, Friends of Wandsworth Common, and Plogolution.
International humanitarian work has included partnering with Shelterbox for disaster relief since the 2004 Thailand tsunami, fundraising for Karantina Hospital in Beirut following the 2020 port explosion, water and sanitation projects in Uganda, and ongoing support for Rotary’s global campaign to eradicate polio.
“We promote lasting change working alongside Rotary members in 34,000 clubs worldwide,” the club notes. The Putney club, founded in 1925 by a local dentist and company director, has been serving the community for nearly 100 years.
The club welcomes volunteers to join collection efforts. “The more people we have collecting, the more money we collect!” organisers say. “Help us by volunteering to be a collector – it’s great fun and great exercise!”
