RESIDENTS of Sarum Avenue, Melksham, presented Wiltshire Air Ambulance (WAA) with a cheque for £6,216.54 this month – funds they raised by hosting their own Christmas lights display in December.
Both local people and those from surrounding towns, including Warminster, Swindon, Wootton Basset and Bradford-on-Avon, visited Sarum Avenue over 13 nights to view the lights and be involved in the festivities.
Around 20 houses along the road were lit up and there was a special ‘Santa Christmas hut’ built on the central grass area. Along with a decorated Christmas tree, one house also built a Christmas model railway display.
“On the final night, there was a fireworks display,” said resident, Kelvin Cantello, known as ‘Papa Elf.’ “It was just fantastic. Massive thanks to the community and those from other towns; it’s been wonderful and thank you to the surrounding streets as well!
“As well as cash donations, we had a QR code for fundraising and we had £5, £10, and £20 coming through on that; it was incredible. We also had a collection box and before we went to bed every night, we were noticing that we raised so much money through it; it was marvellous.”
Another resident, Beth Walker, said, “We loved being a part of it and seeing everyone else enjoy it. Raising money for WAA is the icing on the cake!”
One of the organisers, Terry Weaver, said the residents had chosen to raise funds for WAA, as it is a charity ‘close to many hearts’ in both the street and town. Terry also said his mother was one of the first people to be airlifted in the air ambulance when the charity began and he gave thanks to the charity for saving her life.
Two years ago, the residents of Sarum Avenue lit their houses at Christmas for WAA and raised around £450. “We only did it for two nights as an experiment and we were quite surprised by what we picked up then, so we thought, ‘let’s do it for more nights’, that might mean more money for charity,” explained Kelvin.
Veronica Cantello added, “We’ve got something to live up to this year, haven’t we? We definitely will do it again this year, we have already got plans.”
