Sixty years of Santa Ron

As we near the most wonderful time of the year, we are taking a moment to celebrate ‘Santa Ron’ who, in 2024, marks his sixtieth Christmas as Santa. An incredible feat! Ron Horniblew, now age 89 and Britain’s longest serving Santa, has even attended a Santa Congress in Denmark, “in the middle of July,” he hastens to add! He has been volunteering
with EAAA for a number of years and continues to spread joy all year round to communities in Bedfordshire by supporting EAAA activities locally.

But it’s this time of year when Ron steps back and Santa Ron steps forward, not just to bring festive cheer, but to raise money to save lives. He has hosted fundraising breakfasts and lunches with Santa and helped with bucket collections where he also showcases some brilliant balloon modelling skills… if you need a balloon sword or a balloon dog this Christmas,
Santa Ron is your man!

Ron began dressing as Santa in 1964 to deliver Christmas gifts to his son, but he enjoyed it so much it developed from there. It’s opened many doors for him including travel to countries such as Sweden, Borneo and the Bahamas, as well as TV appearances. At the heart of it, remains raising money for charity. In his time supporting EAAA, he has raised over £5,500.

He says: “It’s an honour to go out and raise money for the air ambulance. It’s surprising how many people need their help, especially in our rural, farming region. Every penny
collected turns into pounds and it snowballs! It’s such a nice feeling that I can give something back.”

Thank you, Ron. Congratulations on sixty years of Santa!