‘SPREADING SOME FESTIVE CHEER AFTER AWFUL 2020’
Family spread some early festive spirit
CHRISTMAS has come early for one street after a family put up festive lights in October to give their neighbours something to smile about.
After an ‘awful 2020’, Mandie Walters-mitchell and husband Pete Mitchell, aged 49, decided to get their decorations out two months early.
Mandie usually has a Halloween display at this time of year but with lockdown preventing trick or treating she decided to skip straight through to Christmas.
The 46-year-old splashed out £200 on illuminated candy canes, nutcrackers and giant reindeer to add to her display at The Range.
The couple – who are parents to George, aged six, Evie-mae, aged 10, Tom, aged 16, and 23-year-old Ronan – then spent a whole day adorning the front of her home in Benfleet Place, Longton, before flicking the switch last Saturday.
Mandie said: “The kids have been off school in self-isolation after a positive case at their school so we wanted to cheer them up. Halloween has effectively been cancelled so we just thought we’d go straight to Christmas.
“We tend to put the decorations up quite early in our household anyway, usually as soon as bonfire night is over.
“But it’s been a pants year with Covid so we thought it might put a smile on a few faces and uplift the kids’ spirits.
“We actually put some lights up when it was the Clap for Carers earlier in the year and then never took them down. It just brought a bit of brightness to our lives and the neighbour said he liked to see them.
“We then went out twice to get some more decorations. We ended up spending around £200. It took a good while to put them all up.
“Everyone loves Christmas but we actually have our meal on Christmas Eve as Ronan was born on Christmas Day so we have a day just for him on December 25.”
The savvy couple are with an energy supplier which allows them to save for winter so don’t expect to see their bills rise rapidly.
And they have taken joy in the happiness the lights have brought people – especially children – as the UK struggles with coronavirus.
Mandie added: “When we put the decorations up we didn’t know that we’d be going into tier two but people with kids are welcome to come and have a look from a social distance.
“The other night I spotted a little lad – only three or four – outside in our front garden staring at the lights in wonder, it was lovely to see.
“But we’re not putting the indoor tree up until November.”