ALTON’S town centre took on a festive feel on Sunday when Home-Start WeyWater’s third annual ‘Santa Run and Fun’ event brought colour and cheer to raise more than £3,000 for the charity.

An independent body whose volunteers are trained to offer friendship and support to struggling parents with a least one child under the age of five, HomeStart Wey-Water covers the Alton and Bordon area and aims “to provide a valuable, and practical, support service that makes a real difference to family life”, helping as a result to prevent family crisis and breakdown.

Faced in 2015 with a funding crisis following a decision by The Big Lottery to pull the plug on any organisation providing a service that it believes should be funded by the government, Home-Start WeyWater volunteers decided to do everything in their power to raise the £67,000 needed each year to provide the service.

And so the Santa Run was launched, and this year saw double the number of runners and a three-fold increase in the takings.

The event itself has also grown with festivities in the Market Square, including Santa’s grotto, festive stalls, entertainment, seasonal refreshments and a big tombola with 647 prizes to represent the number of families helped since the launch of Home-Start WeyWater in 2005.

Entertainment included performances by the Alton Infant School choir, the Alton College Jazz Band, and Amery Hill School Brass Band, while the Alton Morris band lead the Santa Stroll, which was the first race to cross the line, with competitors set on their way by Patrick Hind of the Alton Concert Band who blew his trumpet for the ‘off’.

Father Christmas started the children’s race, while Alton mayor Dean Phillips sounded the hooter for the start of the team race and the Santa Run proper, and gave out the medals and prizes to the winners.

First over the line in the men’s section of the 3k Santa Run was Liam Sheridan, while the first lady home was Nicola Jones.

The Alton Mums Buggy Run, from Alton Infant School, streaked over the finishing line to win the team event, with the Legg family of Simon, Ruben and Charlie winning the family section.

Eva Port was the first girl home in the children’s race for seven to 11-year-olds, with Jamie Craig taking the award for the boys after running the one-kilometre course down Market Street, up and down the High Street, returning to the Market Square via Cross and Pillory Lane.

Awards in the fancy cress competition went, in the individual category, to Alex Wilkinson as Snow White, while Happy Talk Pre-school’s ‘Christmas Dinner’, comprising a dog, a turkey and a brussel sprout, won the team award, with the Bayliss family named ‘best family’ for their portrayal of a Christmas tree.

Event organiser Home-Start WeyWater’s chairman, Ann Foulkes, and fellow trustee Sue Dell expressed grateful thanks to all those who supported the event, in particular the town mayor, MC Jerry Janes, Wey Valley Radio which broadcast live from the event, sound technician Colin Longley, the Westbrook Guides, the competitors, among them teams from the Parish of the Resurrection and the Methodist Church, the marshals and other helpers.

Mrs Foulkes said: “It was a really, really happy event and so many families turned out to support it and to get behind us.

“So the message is: start training for next year’s event.”