Three local charities have been presented with money raised by the Ashby Rotary Clubs' Santa sleigh collections - with £3,300 given to each one.

Ashby Hastings Rotary Club President, Geoff Wilson, presented a cheque to Stewart Shepherd, Chair and Trustee of Bright Hope (formerly Hospice Hope).

Stewart said: "Thank you so much for this donation. 

"I know how hard the Rotary clubs work to collect the money that they donate to charities because I and several of our trustees and volunteers joined one of the sleighs one slippery evening in December.

"Bright Hope supports people who have conditions that lead to a reduction in quality of life or who have been diagnosed with a life limiting condition as well as offering support to their family.

"We have grown from strength to strength since we started in 2012, and now that we have our new building – Bright Hope House – we can offer even more services. 

"There'll be a new day care service starting very soon for up to 24 people three days a week, as well as counselling, complementary therapy and well-being services.

"We still have our three support cafes in Ashby, Ibstock and Coalville that offer counselling, befriending and wellness services."

Becky Dowson accepted the cheque on behalf of Chiltern Music Therapy from Paul Cook, President of the Rotary Club of Ashby de la Zouch..

She explained that while their head office is in Beaconsfield, they have a very active presence in the East Midlands - and she is a Music Therapist working directly with clients. 

Becky added that 'Music Therapy' is a valuable tool that can succeed where medical practice may not. This is particularly true with many young people who have mental health problems or injury.

She said: "We all learn from each other as music therapy does not have a fixed routine, and new techniques can be valuable as every person we work with has their own unique problems.

"As we are an employee-owned, self-managing organisation, your donation is particularly valuable and will help us to continue our work which we all enjoy."

Mark Arjoo, President of Ashby Castle, introduced Mark Harden and Lisa Woodward of Staunton Harold Sailability and presented their cheque.

Lisa said: "The Trust is a registered charity that offers accessible sailing and waterborne activities and experiences for children and adults with any form of disability or difficulties.

"We encourage families to take part actively to enjoy the experience together. We are a completely voluntary, not for profit, charity and rely on public donations. 

"That is why we particularly value our connection with Rotary for all the help they have given us. 

"We also offer less mobile sailors the opportunity to continue sailing when a conventional dinghy may be rather difficult for them to handle."

President Geoff Wilson closed the evening by thanking the Rotarians and volunteers who had manned the sleighs during a wet December. 

He said he was glad that Ashby Rotary maintains the original reason for the sleigh's journey - to bring Santa to the children of Ashby. 

Geoff also thanked the generosity of Ashby people who never fail to contribute so well to Rotary's charitable work.