FESTIVE fundraising in Otley has delivered a boost to the Yorkshire Brain Research Centre.

The Otley Lions Club chose the centre, whose goal is to improve the lives of the one in six adults currently living with a brain disease, as the beneficiary of its 2018 Christmas appeal.

It ended up raising £5,000 - helped by the town’s Waitrose store, which let Santa park his sleigh there, and Stephen H Smith’s Garden Centre, which hosted the club’s Santa’s grotto.

President Jonathan Kirkland and other club members recently presented the proceeds to representatives of Leeds Cares.

The brain research centre, formerly part of the Leeds Hospital Charitable Foundation, is committed to delivering better diagnosis, treatment and outcomes for patients in Yorkshire.

The conditions it focuses on include epilepsy, stroke, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease and dementia.

Otley Lions holds Santa-based fundraising events in the town and surrounding area each year in the run-up to Christmas.

The club usually also holds ‘sleigh walks’ which, though they had to be cancelled in 2018, are set to return this winter.