Branksome families' Christmas lights raise more than £2,000 for charity (From Bournemouth Echo)

Branksome families' Christmas lights raise more than £2,000 for charity

2:00pm Tuesday 29th January 2013 in News By Jim Durkin

MORE than £2,000 has been presented to charity thanks to residents who starred on prime time Christmas TV because of their impressive decorations.

Five million viewers saw the Christmas lights turned on in the Poole cul-de-sac last year.

The inflatable Santa’s and snowmen drew huge crowds to Runton Road, Branksome, which also featured on the BBC’s One Show programme.

The money raised was split down the middle and handed to Forest Holme and the Youth Cancer Trust.

Resident Mick Philips explained: “We’ve been doing this, about eight or nine of us, for twenty years and we’ve no intention of stopping.

“We probably had crowds of between 2,500-3,000 coming to see the decorations on Christmas Eve. We’re out with mulled-wine and it’s a great occasion.”

And the lights don’t even set back the residents too much – Mick’s electricity bill only rose by £40 for the month, despite adorning his home with at least 80 lights and a snow machine.

He told the Daily Echo: “This is all about presenting the money to these deserving charities. Each one gets £1,214.

“The main money was collected on Christmas Eve, but we had collection boxes out while the lights were on throughout the run up to Christmas.

“I’d just like to say a big thank you to everyone who contributed.

“We love doing this, we love seeing the looks on the kids faces.

“It brings a lot of pleasure to a lot of people.

“When times are tough like they are now, it is nice to see people smiling and enjoying something. We’ll carry on doing it.”