SANTA and some very special friends brought smiles to youngsters faces by taking a tour of Colchester... at the end of May.

The big man arrived in town as part of a fundraiser for Colchester Foodbank and Colchester Community First Responders.

Along with some superhero friends, including Spiderman and Harley Quinn, Father Christmas rode his sleigh across Greenstead, Highwoods, St. Johns, Mile End, Monkwick and Shrub End on Saturday, collecting cash along the way.

Food donations were also collected, with a whopping one tonne, collected for the life-saving charity.

The two charities have been working together during the coronavirus pandemic, to collect and distribute food and essentials during what is the foodbank's busiest ever period.

Mike Beckett, chief officer of Colchester Foodbank, said: “We hope the event gives local children a bit of socially distanced Christmas magic and a pick me up.

"We are delighted to continue our work with a fellow frontline charity Community First Responders who have been just as busy as the foodbank following the lockdown.

"At the start of the coronavirus outbreak, many foodbanks across the country struggled to get hold of supplies due to mass panic buying, but here in Colchester you kept on being generous and helped us when we needed you.

"Demand for the foodbank has been high in recent months and we are doing all we can to make sure local people don’t suffer through lack of food during the lockdown."

The event was organised by Colchester Foodbook and Colchester First Responders with the help of Colchester Community Group, Colchester Anti Loo Roll Brigade and local businesses.

A spokesman for Colchester Community First Responders said: "We would like to thank everyone who helped us put on the Santa superheroes yesterday.

"Working with the Colchester Foodbank we managed as a team to collect and deliver over 750 kg of food so far with more to collect over the coming days.

"Colchester you should be so proud of yourselves. And hopefully we raised a little bit of money for our group also

"There are so many people to thank, you know who you all are but without this team effort we would not have been able to organise this event in under a week so hats off to you all."