ANNAN’S Christmas lights fundraiser has been making steady progress on the way to reaching its £1000 goal.
Organised by Julie Pepper on behalf of the Annan Christmas Lights Committee, the campaign aims to raise the money for the upcoming switch-on event.
As of yesterday, the fundraiser had reached £565, over halfway towards the final target.
While past funding for the festive lights has usually been generated through a mixture of donations from local people and businesses and proceeds from fundraising events, a different approach is being taken this year.
Julie said: “While members come together to raise around £3500 annually, event fundraising during the current economic crisis has been difficult, made worse after realising that some of the lights require replacing, something that our grants cannot pay for.
“As a group we have reviewed the condition of the lights and unfortunately there are some which will require to be replaced.
“The total cost of purchasing replacement lights and additional works to maintain the remaining lights is in excess of £4000 this year, so we have decided to open a fundraiser rather than canvas for donations as we have done in previous years.
“The lesser amount does mean that we will be unable to meet all of our outgoings from existing funding streams.
“As a consequence, and to ensure that we can continue to provide Christmas Lights in Annan we would very respectfully ask individuals and businesses for donations to help us meet some of the shortfall.
“Let’s make Annan shine at Christmas, this year and onwards. All donations, no matter how small will be gratefully accepted.”
To donate, visit the Annan Christmas Lights Committee’s JustGiving page.
