I WANTED to write to express my sadness at the way in which some members of the public have treated the organisers of the Poole Bay Rotary Club's Santa float.

My dad introduced the float to Poole following his move to the area.

Every year he maintains the float, organises the route, co-ordinates the charity collection teams and every night for two weeks he is out either collecting or driving the float.

Every year he and his team raise a significant amount of money for local charities and by the end of the two weeks he is absolutely exhausted.

On Thursday night, he drove his float from his home in Christchurch to the Parkstone Tesco as they had requested it to sit in the car park for the evening.

As he was driving back, the shop rang him saying that a member of the public had complained bitterly because it had been parked in the family parking bay.

The fact that the woman had no children with her did not seem to stop her from insisting it be removed.

Dad drove all the way back to move it. He turned around and did so.

Most years, he receives complaints from those who say the music is too loud, or it comes round too late, or it doesn't go up the right road.

Every year we are shocked by the vitriolic messages he receives and every year he deals with so much negativity we wonder why he volunteers to do it again.

He does it because he cares about the local community and he cares about helping others. He does it because he knows little kids and adults alike love to see Santa and it has become part of their Christmas. People are genuinely pleased to see it and so he will continue to run it until he no longer has the strength.

So the next time someone feels like complaining, stop and think. This is a volunteer doing it for others. He gains nothing except sore feet and exhaustion. I am proud of him and his team and I would like to publicly thank them all for their work.

CAROLINE MOSS River Way, Christchurch