A FESTIVE fund-raiser needs volunteers to help paint the town red for charity.

The Santathon, which entails hundreds of people dressing up as Santa and running, walking or jogging around Worcester on Sunday, December 7, to raise money for Leukaemia CARE, needs marshals and other helpers as well as Santas.

The charity and Worcester City Football Club are looking for 40 volunteers to carry out a variety of essential roles at the event.

These include acting as marshals along the 5km route, manning road closures, handing out medals, carrying out collections and generally helping out at the fund-raiser, which starts and finishes at Worcester City Football Club in St George’s Lane.

The charity’s marketing officer Gemma Harris said: “The Santathon is a fantastic local event that is fun for all the family. It is also one of our biggest fund-raising events of the year and one which enables Leukaemia CARE to continue supporting patients, their families, friends and carers through the work we do.”

You must be over the age of 16 to volunteer.

Diana Radcliffe helped at last year’s event after reading an article during National Volunteer Week.

She enjoyed herself so much that she came out of early retirement to work as a regular volunteer at the Worcester-based charity and now acts as a community volunteer, recruiting other helpers three days a week.

Volunteers will be needed at the event from 10am until 1pm. To find out more, call Melanie Taylor at Leukaemia CARE on 0845 5213456.

Santas who want to take part in the event still have time to register and can collect registration and sponsorship forms from Leukaemia CARE’s offices at Blackpole East or from Worcester City Football Club until Wednesday, December 3.

They can also be download them from the charity’s website at xmasfunrun.co.uk Leukaemia CARE provides the only dedicated free, staffed 24-hour phone CARE Line for patients and their families that enables people to discuss their feelings, concerns and emotions.

The CARE Line number is 0800 1696680.