Raising Money for Benfleet's Christmas Lights

Switch on 3rd December 2018 - 6pm - Please keep filling the jars

Collection jars for Benfleet Christmas Action to raise money for a Christmas tree and streetlamp decorations.
Organizers Janice Gray and Dave Cowan with the Christmas lights fundraising tree indicator outside Benfleet School. June 2018
Christmas tree showing fund raising total, September 2018. As money was raised the next branch would be painted total £4000.
Sad Santa added to repair tree after damage was caused to the tree by unknown persons overnight. Even a poem was added to the tree by the poet of our group, Phil.
Margaret March

BENFLEET CHRISTMAS ACTION GROUP – March 2018

A group of local residents decided that they would like to improve the lamppost  Christmas decorations and provide a Christmas tree along Benfleet High Road.  The plan, to raise £6000 to cover the costs of the decorations  and the installation and take down charges, structural testing of the lampposts, liability insurance and the necessary licenses from Essex County Council.

The Plan

To raise the money needed for the decorations the Benfleet Christmas Action Group decided to start by placing  collection jars  in shops along the High Road, the shop keepers were very supportive.  Also monthly fund raising events were held, such as curry nights, a quiz night, afternoon tea in a Vicarage Hill garden, concert and cake at the Methodist Church and a coffee morning.

By June £2000 had been raised.   The group felt they needed to get more publicity for the fundraising.  The idea was to put a wooden outline of a six foot high Christmas tree outside Benfleet School to show the residents how much money had been raised.

By September 2018 the Benfleet Christmas Action Group had raised over £4000, enough to buy 10 Christmas lamppost Decorations, along with a Christmas tree and lights to decorate it.

The Benfleet Christmas tree will be sited outside The Oasis Church at the corner of Grove Road.  We are very grateful to the Church for agreeing to this.  It will be a lovely location.  The school choirs from Kents Hill Junior  and South Benfleet Junior will sing when the lights are switched on at 6pm on Monday 3rd December 2018.

Please keep filling the jars in the shops!  The organizers would like to thank the residents of Benfleet  for all their donations and the shop keepers for their support and encouragement.  It has been a great boost to know that the Benfleet community is behind this project and they have been a major contribution to the fund.  Thank You Benfleet

 

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  • Well Done! Brilliant for Benfleet. Thank you.

    By geraldine campey (22/11/2018)

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