I'm Britain's longest-serving Santa... when I started in 1962 children would ask for a doll or board game - now they give toy lists running into thousands of pounds' worth
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Britain's longest serving Santa has told how children used to ask him for just a doll or a board game - but now give lists running into thousands of pounds' worth of toys. Ray Hulse, 80, from Bridgnorth, Shropshire, has been bringing festive cheer to children since 1962 when he first stepped into the role at a village hall in Tasley.
![[Mr Tulse told how children used to ask for just one item such as a doll, but now can give whole lists of gifts (pictured: Mr Tulse as Santa in 1967)]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/23/08/93418457-14220669-image-a-5_1734942152830.jpg)
Over the years he has handed out thousands of gifts and raised £60,000 for charity. But for him, the tradition began out of a difficult childhood which saw him never receive a present from his parents himself. Mr Hulse told the Times how he has no memory of ever receiving a gift from his mother - instead being sent to work down the mines as a teenager and giving every penny of his hard-earned wages to her.
![[He has been Santa on horseback, in a car or in a sleigh throughout his career in Shropshire]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/23/08/93418233-14220669-image-a-6_1734942217749.jpg)
'Mum never said she loved me and didn’t keep my photo in the house,' he said. Tragedy has struck more recently for Mr Hulse too, after the death of his son aged just 40 and his wife recently being admitted to a care home with dementia. Now he continues to dedicate himself to making other children's Christmases as merry as possible.
![[Ray Hulse poses in his Santa outfit with festive decorations in 2019]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/23/08/93418239-14220669-image-a-7_1734942261453.jpg)
After walking his dog Maisy, Mr Hulse eats breakfast before heading to his usual spot - a Morrisons supermarket - where he greets children all day until 4pm. Ray Hulse, 80, has been dressing up as Santa every year since 1962 and wants to continue until he's 100.
![[Mr Hulse sits on a tank while posing for pictures with a young boy in 1994]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/23/08/93418237-14220669-image-a-8_1734942341150.jpg)
