Hopes for Lily to turn on city Xmas lights

Big push to get youngster up on stage

It is hoped a campaign to get local girl Lily Douglas up on stage for the Christmas lights switchon is working on the powers that be at 2 High Street.

This week saw the announcement of the VIPs who will make Perth’s festive celebrations sparkle this year - Atomic Kitten, NTrance, Dario G and Nina Nesbitt will all be in the spotlight.

But local businessman Pete Chan has rallied hundreds of people to call on Perth and Kinross Council to make young cancer fighter Lily Douglas smile, by inviting her to share the magic and help to press the button to bring on the light show at 6.15pm on Saturday, November 16.

Lily’s mum Jane Douglas told the PA the ‘Make it happen PKC’ campaign started by her friend Pete was “a lovely idea”.

Pete’s calling for Perth’s young people, particularly 11-year-old Lily, but also other worthy kids in future, to be brought into the centre of the city’s big day, this year and in future too.

Jane Douglas suggested the honour be shared among sick children and also children who had done good things in the community. And she added Perth’s lights switch-on could be used to circulate charity buckets around the crowd.

She pointed to how the charity Tayside Children with Cancer and Leukaemia (TCCL) had helped her enormously when her daughter first got her cancer diagnosis.

She said: “TCCL helped me get a better car to manage all the driving to where Lily was being treated in Edinburgh and they helped me get a new fridge when mine went wrong. Little things like that are a godsend when your child is ill.

“Perhaps shops would keep charity tins on the counter and make use of all the goodwill.”

Perth and Kinross Council, which makes the decision over the switch-on programme, said it would extend an invitation to speak to Lily and her family about the Christmas lights celebrations.

A statement yesterday from a council spokesperson said: “Provost Dennis Melloy would be happy to speak to Lily’s family directly on whether they would like to be involved with the Perth Christmas lights switch-on event on November 16.

“We would ask the family to contact us if they wish to be involved and we can make the necessary arrangements.”

Jane Douglas said she’d be pleased to go along with Lily to talk to the provost in the hope that something good would come of it.