Residents of a Suffolk street are once again working together to create a special Christmas season treat - and raise cash for charity.
Householders in Double Street in Framlingham have launched their annual advent calendar window lighting display.
For the past eight years, neighbours have pulled together to create a decorative display to be enjoyed by all, while raising some funds for charitable causes, too.
The annual event was created by Double Street resident Gill Knights.
“I saw on Look East that a village in Cambridgeshire was doing something a bit similar, but with one house here, one house there,” said Gill, 69.
“We do live in a pretty street right next to the church and the castle. It’s an old street, the houses almost all different. I thought rather than have the windows dotted around, it’d be nice just to have them all together, so you can walk up and down.
And so, I proposed the idea. I invited everybody in the street for tea and cake one summer’s afternoon and put it to them. And we went from there.”
Despite the pandemic, the neighbours enjoyed a popular year in 2020, which they are hoping to repeat.
Gill said: “We did get a lot of visitors last year, people with children especially. Some people come more than once, and children after school. We do encourage people to give money to our charities, but you can come for nothing.”
People were incredibly generous.
“We raised over £1,000 last year,” said Gill. “Everything that is given goes to charity. Nobody takes any money for any materials.”
The displays are simply “a labour of love.”
This year, the charities they are supporting are East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices and the Salvation Army.
As for what to expect this year, Gill insists that everyone will have to wait and see.
“I think we’re going to have some pretty special ones this year. I was told by a friend that she’s got a really good idea, but I know what it is. We don’t know what everybody else is having until they have it.”
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