Stonehaven Christmas lights saved thanks to community kindness

Stonehaven Christmas lights have been saved from the axe following an influx of donations, allowing the annual tradition to continue.

Crowds usually gather every festive season to watch the light switch on, with animated displays hanging from lampposts around the town centre.

But plans for this year’s lights were thrown into jeopardy according to Stonehaven Business Association (SBA), which has funded the lights for more than 35 years.

Chairman Martin Gray told The P&J that the SBA usually hires an external company each year to put up the light displays on the lampposts, costing as much as £4,000.

On top of this, the lights, which have been used for many years, began to show their age last year, requiring a possible future overhaul.

Mr Grey said: “Last year we actually found there was a number of lights which were faulty so we are going to have to do some testing of the lights, potentially source new lights and also pay to put the lights up.

Reaching the target within a few months is phenomenal

“Our funds are usually taken from memberships fees and car boot sales and it was getting to a point, that the amount of money we had was being stretched.”

SBA turned to the public for help organising a JustGiving page to help cover the costs of the Christmas lights.

Started back in April just over two months have passed and the page has already smashed the £5,000 target following donations from more than 230 patrons.

Mr Grey noted they had raised almost half the target within the first 24 hours.

In total, 46 light displays, such as baubles, stars etc, are hung in and around Market Square.

The long-held tradition will continue on thanks to the help of generous donors, with Mr Grey thanking them for their help.

He added: “To reach the target within just a few months is phenomenal. It shows that the local people have pride in how the town looks during the festive season.

“We get a lot of visitors to the town during that time especially around Hogmanay, what with the fireballs, so it just shows that people want to see this tradition continue.”