On Saturday, December 3, families across the borough took part in the festive fun run at Victoria Park, with many donning Father Christmas hats and costumes.

A collaboration between St Helens Borough Council and Willowbrook Hospice, with support from the Friends of Victoria Park group, the event saw fun runners taking on a 4k loop around Victoria Park as well as a host of winter attractions on offer.

Raising money for Willowbrook, the chosen charity of the Mayor of St Helens, the attractions included Santa’s Grotto, a Reindeer, food and drink stalls, craft and gift fayres, and a children’s funfair.

The Victoria Park Fun Day also had a Christmas light switch on to make sure everyone was in the festive spirit.

Prior to the event on Saturday, Cabinet member for Wellbeing, Culture and Heritage, Councillor Anthony Burns, said:

“Every year, we host separate events for the Santa Dash and real reindeer visit which always attract good crowds, so we thought, why not bring the two together for one big event in such a beautiful, green setting while raising money for Willowbrook which provides a vital service to so many people in our borough.

“Christmas events always bring a special kind of atmosphere and we’re certainly looking forward to bringing our action-packed Festive Fun Day to Victoria Park for the first time which will have something for everyone to enjoy.”

Suzanne Davies, events manager at Willowbrook Hospice, said: “Everyone at Willowbrook is delighted to be the chosen charity for the Mayor’s appeal this year and we are very excited to be part of the St Helens Festive Fun Day.

“The money raised from the event will go straight towards supporting our care for patients at the hospice. We only receive around a third of the money we need from the government and therefore we are very reliant on the generosity of the people across our community.”