FESTIVE LIGHTS FOR HAMLET COURT ROAD
Our biggest project so far has been Festive Friday which saw the return of festive lights back to Hamlet Court Road.
Organising festive lights is a hard job for any council or organisation, but as a voluntary, not-for-profit group it was a particularly difficult task. We had a chicken and egg situation; the lights couldnt be ordered without money in the bank, but money couldn't be raised without a guaranteed order of lights.
There were also licences from the council to purchase and that couldn't be done unless we had money and a lights booking! It was a daunting task to undertake, however an early donation from the council gave us the financial launchpad and confidence we needed to go ahead with the project.
We started a Just Giving fundraiser where we had some generous donations from both residents and businesses. However many people didn’t donate partly due to being let down in previous years, so sadly we didn’t have the funds to make the booking in good time. Luckily, a donation from the Cliffs pavillion helped us at the last minute to ensure we could book the lights but we didn’t have much time to advertise or plan an event.
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With a lot of rallying around from the Hamlet Court Calling team we managed to pull together Festive Friday at the last minute, which included the festive lights turning on with businesses on the road decorating their stores, a snow machine, community choirs, musicians and an Elf on the shelf entertaining children. It was fantastic to see so many people out on the street and the community come together to enjoy all that Westcliff has to offer.
We had some queries from the public asking why the lights were battery operated.
Unfortunately, following an inspection of the lamp posts we were told it was not possible for us to use mains power. So we needed to find a special low voltage, battery powered solution. It’s an unusual situation which not many lighting companies cater for, However, we found a lighting company that had worked with community groups, so luckily they had experience of installing battery operated lights.
Even though this meant they wouldn't be as bright as mains powered lights, we hoped that it would act almost like a pilot, and sow the seed for a bigger and brighter display, for which we have already started planning in 2025!
If you would like to help with or donate to Festive Friday 2025
please email us at info@hamletcourtcalling.org
Watch this space as we shall be starting to fundraise soon.