Santa Bus 2024 Charities Announced at Royal Pavilion Event

Ho Ho Ho! It might seem a tad early to be thinking about Christmas but at Brighton & Hove Buses the festive plans have been well underway for several months to ready everyone from the city to the North Pole, for this year’s Santa Bus! The very first, and largest, Santa Bus operation in the UK!

In previous years, the Santa Bus has raised a whopping £417,000 for multiple charities, helping support local people across our community and beyond.

This year the Santa Bus will return to the city streets once again raising money for 12 fantastic local charities.

The 2024 Santa Bus charities are: Martlets, Chestnut Tree House, Brighton and Hove Museums, Rockinghorse Children's Charity, Amaze, Clock Tower Sanctuary, Fareshare Sussex & Surrey, Together Co, Possability People, East Sussex WRAS Wildlife Rescue, MindOut and Brighton Women’s Centre. 

The Santa Bus will travel 20 routes over 20 nights from Monday 25th November until Monday 23rd December 2024, whilst spreading festive cheer to all. 

To announce the chosen charities, the Santa Bus team led by Santa himself, came together at the world-famous Royal Pavilion in Brighton to share the exciting news.

Santa was joined by the Deputy Lieutenant of East Sussex, Juliet Olsworth, and Brighton & Hove Mayor, Cllr Mohammed Asaduzzaman for this very special announcement. 

Ed Wills, Managing Director of Brighton & Hove Buses said:

“The Santa Bus is a well-established part of the festive calendar. We know from previous years how loved the Santa Bus is as it travels through the streets of Brighton & Hove. It gives local communities access to Santa especially in the hardest to reach parts of the city and where people may not always be able to make a trip into town to see Santa in his grotto while raising money for so many amazing charities. Everyone taking part volunteers their own time which adds to magic of it all.

We are pleased to announce that this year we have a new bus, with new lights and there are more announcements to come over the next few weeks. A huge thank you to everyone in the local community for the amazing support they give year on year. And of course, a huge thank you to Santa for taking time to fly over from the North Pole to join us.”

Santa Claus also added 

“Ho Ho Ho for another great Santa Bus tour of the city! And what an honour it is for me to announce the names of the 12 charities alongside the Deputy Lieutenant of East Sussex and Brighton & Hove Mayor. Whilst there were no mince pies to eat yet, my wonderful Santa Bus team from Brighton & Hove Buses made sure there was plenty of tea and cake with some carrots for Rudolf whilst receiving a jolly warm welcome from everyone at The Royal Pavilion.

We are looking for local businesses to take part and become Santa Bus Collection Points. If you would like to be one get in touch today. You can get all the Santa Bus updates, including how to sign up a to be a collection point at buses.co.uk/SantaBus-SignUp

For more information about this year's Santa Bus charities, click here.