Santa on a Bike Monmouthshire ride for children's hospice

Santas on a Bike is an annual December event, in which bikers dress as Santa and take part in a cruise to raise money for charity.

Due to coronavirus the event has adapted; rather than assembling for a large gathering, people were asked to carry out their own rides at a time that suits them.

Nathan Hubbard, 25, joined forces with his pal, 25-year-old Sam Atkins, to organise two Santa on a Bike rides to raise funds for Children’s Hospice South West.

Mr Atkins planned the route, which incorporated: Black Rock, Portskewett, Caldicot, Rogiet, Undy, Magor, Underwood and, for one of the rides, Caerwent.

Three other bikers joined the pair on the first ride and nine others joined them on the second, with supporters braving the elements to show their support while following coronavirus regulations.

Mr Hubbard explained: “I asked Sam if he wanted to do a local ride this year, as coronavirus stopped the normal ride in Bristol that I’ve done for the past four years.

“As there’s only one page already created for the charity we couldn’t say how much our area has created, but next year I think we will do a ride for a local charity so we can know the total and present it to them ourselves.

“The support was fantastic - thank you to everyone who came out to wave, clap and cheer us on along the route.

“A massive thank you to Chris Hubbard for bringing us all hot drinks at the end of the first ride, and to Susan and Brian Riddoch for bringing us hot drinks at the end of the second.”

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Following the success of these rides, another one - for fun, rather than charity - is being planned for Sunday December 20, with some additions to the route.

This final ride of 2020 will add Sudbrook, Church Road, Dancing Hill (Caldicot) and Pennyfarthing Lane to the route.

Mr Atkins said: "This ride will be purely for uplifting the community Christmas spirit, so I would like to ask everyone who is spectating to wear a Christmas outfit.

"Any riders wanting to take part could do the same thing - from Santa outfits, elf costumes, wearing a Christmas jumper, or even just some lights."

Anyone wanting to get involved with this ride, which will leave Black Rock around 5pm on December 20, can contact Sam Atkins via Facebook.