Villagers help save Whittington Christmas tree lights
Villagers in Whittington will be able to enjoy Christmas lights this year thanks to a huge community effort.
Members of the Parish Council were horrified when they were told by their lighting contractor last week that the Christmas Tree lights on the village green had been vandalised and damaged so badly during the year that they were no longer fit for purpose.
The lights have lit up the centre of Whittington for several years and were added to last Christmas, with an additional set,used to further enhance the display.
With only seen working days until Christmas, it seemed unlikely that the Parish Council would be able to replace them this year but thanks to the generosity of a neighbouring town council and a team of local electrical engineers, a set of lights have now gone up on the tree in the car park of the Ye Olde Boote Inn.
Amy Jones, clerk to the parish council, said: “As it was so close to Christmas, we sent out a plea to neighbouring Town Councils to see if anyone had any lights available to borrow and by a stroke of luck, Ellesmere Town Council had a spare set of tree lights that they were not using this year.
"They very kindly offered them to Whittington Parish Council to borrow this year and the landlord of the Boote Inn kindly agreed to having the lights on the tree in the car park as the Green was now too wet to get machinery on to erect the display.
"Our electrical engineers, Highline, pulled out all the stops and put up the lights for us the Friday before Christmas meaning there will be light in the village this year.
Mrs Jones added: “To top it all off, when an initial message went out on the Parish Council Facebook Page to explain why the lights were not on this Christmas, members of the community rallied around and set up a Crowd Funding Page to support the Parish Council with purchasing a new set of lights for next year.
"They managed to raise a fantastic £300 which is being transferred to the council and will be used to put on an enhanced display for Christmas 2020.
"We can’t thank everybody enough for their generosity and hard work; pulling together to make this happen for the village."
Mrs Jill Whitby, chair of the Parish Council, added “I am overwhelmed by the offers of support, and at our meeting on Tuesday, the council agreed to try and pull out all the stops to ensure that the village once again had the Christmas Spirit.
"On behalf of the council, I personally would like to thank Ellesmere Town Council, Highline Electrical, Nick and the Boote Inn, and all the Parishioners who helped to make this possible."
