Festive lights charity boost
A Rattray couple have raised £170 for charity through their wonderful festive lights display.
George and Joan Stark, who live in Old Mill Road, have delighted residents with their Christmas decorations for around 15 years.
The kind-hearted couple, whose light collection has grown steadily over the years, have always enjoyed people’s reaction to the displays. So, in 2015, they decided to ask for donations from people who visit the lights, which raised money for Help For Heroes.
And they chose to donate the money they collected last Christmas to PoppyScotland.
George said:“Everyone would say to us‘why don’t you collect some money from the lights’and eventually I thought ‘well, why not, let’s go for it’.
“We were so pleased with the response we got and how generous everyone was the first year that we decided to do it again.
“We put posters up in shops and pubs in the town and put it up on social media and lots of people came to see it which was great.”
The display, which is made up of around 50 different light features, including village scenes, Santas, penguins, reindeer and a sleigh, stars and snowmen, as well as a nativity scene - complete with a manger, animals and wise men - takes George and Joan around two to three days to put up and take down every year.
George said:“We would like to thank everyone who made a donation - some people were very generous indeed and it is greatly appreciated.
“There was a lot of interest in the display from people, one family came every night, which was nice!
“We are already looking forward to doing it all again this year and will announce which charity we will be donating the proceeds to nearer the time.
“We hope everyone enjoyed the display and will come back next year and be even more generous.”