Santa will be taking to the streets of Farsley on Thursday 12th December to once again raise funds and collect door-to-door food donations for our local food bank!
The Food Drive, which is now in its 4th year, will set off from Sunny Bank Mills in the heart of Farsley and take a familiar route around our streets between 5.30pm and 8pm.
Expect to see Santa on his magical light up sleigh followed by a procession of festively dressed local volunteers who are there to help spread some joy whilst collecting supplies for the Food Bank from local residents from their doorsteps!
This year we will also delight on lookers with a parade of urban wildlife themed willow sculptures that will be festively lit from within with twinkly fairy lights, all of which were created by the community during the Farsley Lantern Festival.
In the lead up to the event we’ll raising money for Pudsey Community Project; a local charitable organisation started from Pudsey Parish Church to provide community and poverty resources for Pudsey and their immediately surrounding areas.
You can also donate packaged food & items on the night from your doorstep!
Click here to view a map of the route
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Would you like to join us on the evening of the 12th December to help collect donations?
You’ll need to be able to walk for a bit of a distance (we do the tour of Farsley on foot) and ideally you’ll be happy to look as festive as possible!The Food Drive will start around 5pm and finish around 8pm, feel free to join us for some or all of the route!
We’d love help with the following on the evening:
Moving all of the Lanterns to the Weavers Yard
Carrying the large lanterns during the parade
Collecting food donations during the parade
Organising the donations once back at the Mill
Dropping donations back at Pudsey Parish Church
It's all very wholesome & festive!
Love to join us? Fill in our Volunteer form below and we’ll be in touch!
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Online Donations
If you would like to support this year’s Christmas Appeal we'd love for you to donate any amount you can online in advance to Pudsey Community Project via our Give As You Live fundraising page! All donations go towards helping PCP stock their Food Bank and keep up the essential work they do in the community!Farsley Light Switch On
Leading up to the event you can also drop food off at our stall which will be outside Grumpy's on Wednesday 27th November.
Collections on the Night
Join us from your door steps on the evening of the 12th December to hand Santa your tinned and packaged goods as he passes by! Click the link below for ideas of the kind of things the Food Bank would like!
How it all started.....
Back in December 2020 Grumpy's joined forces with Alaina of Baere Accessories, Sarah Sax from Farsley Fire & Smoke, Matthew Laidler and Paul from Farsley Scaffolding to create a Community Lights Switch On during Lockdown in Farsley.
During the outdoor event Santa took to the streets on the back of Paul's van accompanied by Sarah and her Saxophone to bring some well needed Christmas cheer to the local community during the pandemic.
2022’s Cost of Living Crisis brought the team back together in December to raise funds for vulnerable people in the community, raising over £1300 plus a generous car load of food donations for Leeds North and West Food Bank.
Santa toured the streets in December last year to collect non-perishable food donations door to door. More than 10 locals volunteered on the evening including Councillor Peter Carlill and local artist Steph Heath and her husband Guy.
Many residents joined in with the spirit of the event, waving and cheering Santa and Sarah Sax on from their windows and doorsteps whilst those who had heard the news of the project were waiting with bags of food to kindly donate, all of which were kept safe in two festively decorated vehicles provided and driven by Paul of Rodley Scaffolding and his wife Angela (who also dressed as elves for the evening and personally donated gifts and 170 selection boxes to the project!)
Project organisers Alex and Alaina hope that the event may become an annual tradition in Farsley, growing each year with the success of the last!