It’s been a difficult year and in recognition of the way this community has pulled together, your council has decided to gift £2,250 to the Christmas Lights Committee to buy new Christmas lights.
Each year the Christmas Lights Committee work hard to raise money, organise and put up the Christmas lights on St Mary's for the benefit of our community and we know how much they are appreciated. This year, we are delighted to be able to donate £2,250 in addition to the £700 already allocated from the Community Fund. Alongside the Council's contributions, the Islands’ Partnership and the Edward McDonald Trust have also contributed £500 each.
On behalf of the Christmas Lights Committee, Ian Sibley said: ‘the Christmas lights on St Mary’s is a collective effort. We are grateful to Richard Hand Haulage, the Steamship Company, Pernic Forge and the residents of Old Town for helping to put the lights up, and to Tresco Estate for supplying the Christmas tree in the Park. The contributions from the Council, Islands’ Partnership and Edward McDonald Trust have enabled us to replace the lights at Old Town, the Strand and on the Christmas tree and to renew a few of the displays – all with low energy LED bulbs. They are now made up of 10m strings which can be joined together, so if we get a fault we just need to replace the faulty section, rather than the whole length, which will make life easier for everyone.’
Joel Williams, Lead Member for Children and Young People, said:
"We are delighted to be able to further support the efforts of the Christmas Lights Committee this year. The money has been used to buy new energy efficient Christmas lights which can be enjoyed by every generation of our community for years to come, whilst helping to reduce our energy usage. Our thanks to the Christmas Lights Committee for the amazing work they do every year to make Christmas feel a bit more special. It’s wonderful that so many people are willing to help give a boost to the community after the year we’ve had. We can’t wait to see the lights!"
The Council has also donated £100 for a prize for the forthcoming ‘Our Islands’ Wonderland’ Christmas competition run by the administrators of the Scilly Kids Activities Facebook Page.
Finally, we would also like to thank the University of the 3rd Age (U3A) for decorating the foyer of the Town Hall so beautifully.
Merry Christmas everybody!