A Wellington man is wearing a Santa suit for 25 days in the lead-up to Christmas.
He's surfed in it, run in it, and even done some skateboarding in it. And it's all for a good cause.
Seven Santa suits have been in Paul Ballentyne's wardrobe for 24 days and counting.
"This is my evening attire so when the sun goes down in Wellington I can slip into the full onesie Santa," he says.
Ballentyne's worn a Santa suit all day, every day since the first of December. Even when he is running, surfing, playing golf and running his retail wholesale business.
The suits are now a little worse for wear.
"They're kind of designed for one night, for a Christmas do - not really designed to be worn for 25 days," he says.
Ballentyne says dressing up as Santa every day can be challenging.
"The mornings are the hardest, like I wake up and look at this big pile of red and white polyester and think 'oh no'," he says.
But he warms up to it eventually. And with just one day left on Thursday, Ballentyne spent it playing Santa for real - getting his helpers to wrap up gifts before handing them out in the community.
Ballentyne's true cause is the City Mission.
"The City Mission does a great job of looking after the most vulnerable in Wellington," he says.
Dressing up at Santa has seen Paul fundraise close to $13,000 for the charity. City Missioner Murray Edridge says that money will go a long way.
"That will make a huge difference for families in Wellington," he says.
As Ballentyne plans for his final day as Santa on Christmas Day, he can hang up the suit knowing he's well and truly in Santa's good books.
