Walsall truck driver makes hundreds of St Nicholas boots for children

“I’ve never made a single penny out of them, it’s all from my heart. I try to look at Christmas through the eyes of a child.”

Grandfather-of-seven Karl Hasketh spends his working life as a truck driver but when he is back at his Walsall home, he retreats to his workshop where he handcrafts boots for children.

Since 2019, he has made 625 individual boots which are used to celebrate St Nicholas Day, a popular celebration across mainland Europe held on 6 December.

The holiday, which Mr Hasketh described as “the most magical thing imaginable”, sees children leave boots out in the hopes St Nicholas will reward them with sweets overnight, which signals that they have made the good list.

The 54-year-old said he discovered St Nicholas Day through some friends from Poland.

“I thought it was amazing and I think we should be doing it,” he said.

Six years ago he and his wife came up with the idea of promoting the celebration by giving out his “St Nicholas Boots”, which he fills with sweets and even original poetry.

All the boots are made from recycled material, such as cardboard tubes and plastic bottles, which are designed to be reused every year.

“I’m still making them now with very high demand,” he said.

“In fact, all the boots I made this year are for all the children who missed out last year, so I’m kind of catching up and already I have a big order for children who want them next year.”

Mr Hasketh said he also hand delivered the boots in character as St Nicholas, in either a traditional green outfit or his more widely recognised red suit.

The process to make the boots starts in January, with Mr Hasketh always aiming to exceed the previous year’s total.

“I start making them in the second week of January, so once all the Christmas decorations are gone that’s when I start making them and it usually takes me until the end of March.

“By the time the daffodils appear, that’s when all my boots are finished. Then I get them all carefully packed away until September to make the slight finishing touches.”

He added: “I will never accept money from anyone. I said from the very beginning this isn’t about money.

“I don’t want to make any money, I just want to show the true meaning of Christmas.”