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52 Phonebox Magazine | October 2025Hunt for Santa%u2019s helper is on! Current driver Paul exercises Claus in his contract and steps down. Father Christmas will be looking for a new driver from next year after the man who drives him around on Dickens Festival morning has announced he is hanging up his gloves. Paul Tombs and the team of Santa%u2019s helpers %u2013 Mark Luckin, Jonathon Shaw and Chris Ford %u2013 have been involved with the drive around the town for 15 years but are now looking for some new volunteers to take up the reins after this Christmas. Paul%u2019s red Triumph TR6 has become a familiar and welcome sight each year as he drives all over the town with Father Christmas perched precariously on the back and Yuletide tunes playing over the loudspeakers. But the town has grown, and with it have come more roads, and Paul says the time has come for a new form of transportation for Santa. It has been very well supported over the years,%u201d says Paul, from Olney. %u201cBut it is time now for a new era. We have found ourselves setting off earlier and earlier to get the whole town covered. We don%u2019t want to go too early and annoy people in the morning, but the town is growing.%u201d Paul%u2019s 25-mile route covers as many of Olney%u2019s roads as he can fi nd and includes back alleys, cul-de-sacs and tight one-way streets. %u201cIt%u2019s great fun, but not without responsibility,%u201d says Paul. %u201cIt%u2019s always a relief when we have fi nished that I haven%u2019t backed into someone else%u2019s car or damaged something.%u201d Now the call is going out for a new team to assist Santa. Paul says ideally it should include someone with a small sports car, preferably red, who doesn%u2019t mind having a couple of big speakers strapped on the back. Interested in helping Santa out? Contact organiser Chris Ford, 07748 966699.SANTA NEEDS YOU!OLNEY UKRAINE AID NEWSComfort bags appeal for ChristmasUkraine Aid fundraiser Lynne King writes:As I write this article, there is a definite feel of Autumn. We have had a glorious few months of warm sunny weather, and now, as our thoughts turn towards winter, we think of the living conditions for our friends in Ukraine.I c o n t i n u e t o support the group HelpUkraineBAMK, based in Milton Keynes, sending out comfort bags fi lled with basic toiletries and warm socks and hats for soldiers on the front line. Much-needed toiletries go in the hospital patients%u2019 bags along with a few sweet treats, underwear and perhaps a notebook and pen.%u00a0Once again, our thoughts turn to spreading Christmas cheer to disadvantaged children in Ukraine.%u00a0Last year I had a brilliant response to this appeal from Olney and neighbouring villages. Colourful drawstring bags in brightly coloured festive and children%u2019s fabric were fi lled with toiletries, stationery and small Christmas gifts.%u00a0These were delivered by Steve, one of the local drivers from MK, in person, in time for Christmas, to orphanages and children%u2019s centres across Ukraine.%u00a0This year the children%u2019s bags are heading for orphanages in Odesa, one in Western Ukraine, and others that have close links with the volunteers at HelpUkraineBAMK.%u00a0Steve will once again deliver these in time for Christmas.Can you help donate? We are collecting basic toiletries, pencil cases, notebooks, colouring books, sweets, small balls, torches, fi dget toys, and small games such as chess, snakes and ladders and dominoes. And of course, a cuddly toy in every bag!%u00a0We aim to make the bags suitable for both boys and girls to make it easier when they are distributed in Ukraine. Bags will be labelled %u2018under 3%u2019, %u20183 to 9%u2019 and %u201910 to16%u2019.%u00a0Please get in touch for more information or to arrange the collection of any donations. With grateful thanks, Lynne, 07766 425523