Christmas light displays back on after Covid and energy price hikes

The nights have drawn in, the temperature has dropped and it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Over the past few years increasing numbers of people seem to be getting on board the festive bandwagon and covering their houses in glistening Christmas lights.

Home owners go all out in the hope of bringing some Christmas joy and, for some, it is a way of raising much-needed funds for their favourite charities. This year, energy price rises hinted at putting those displays at risk, but these dedicated festive followers say it is a price worth paying.

Graham Hawkes' house in Almondsbury, near Bristol, glitters with lights, giant snowmen, reindeer and of course the big man himself - Father Christmas.

His love affair with lights started when his wife, Sue, bought him National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

"I just thought, 'Wow imagine having a house like that all covered in lights'. Now I have," he said.

The nightly display is all in aid of the charities Paul's Place and St Peter's Hospice and regularly raises thousands of pounds.

After a "difficult" year with Covid restrictions last Christmas, Mr Hawkes, 59, is ready to welcome everybody back.

He has amassed roughly 50,000 lights and the display takes five weeks to assemble.

"It started with just one string of lights and before you know it, it has just grown and grown and grown," the forklift driver said.

"It still won't be as we normally do it - we can't have Santa, which is a bit sad - but it will be nice to see everyone's faces again. Everyone is delighted we're doing it."

Mr Hawkes admits one of the first things people say to him is "I wouldn't want your electricity bill".

But he added: "Every light in my display is LED, so it costs barely £3 a night. It may be more this year because of costs going up but it is a cost we are quite happy to absorb.

"We pay say £100 on electricity but we generate £10,000 for charity, which is a very small price to pay for a very big return."

This year though, is Mr Hawkes' last. He has been putting up lights for the last 14 years, and says it is time to retire.

"I don't really want to, I'm quite happy to go on, but the wife says I can't keep getting on the roof at my age," he joked.

"We're going to make it the best year, try and beat what we've done in the past."

His lights will go on in Cope Park, Almondsbury, on 28 November until 3 January.

In Weston-super-Mare, Mark Lovell had been decorating his house to cheer up his neighbours for nine years before deciding last year to start collecting for Weston Hospicecare.

The 42-year-old said he started raising money for the "amazing" charity after it cared for two of his friends.

The house in Axe Close is adorned with as many colourful lights as Mark can get his hands on and this year he even sent out an appeal for any unwanted decorations and has put in an extra 27 plugs.

His team of friends and family started helping him put up the lights at the end of October.

"We're just happy to be raising money and bringing some joy to people who come and visit," Mr Lovell said.

"I also live in a row of elderly people and I do it to cheer them up too, as they don't get to go out much."

Mr Lovell admitted that with energy prices going up he did consider whether to go ahead again this year.

"We weighed it up and decided we still wanted to give it a go and raise some money," he said.

"I think last year it cost about £200... so we are going to cut down some of the hours to shorten it a bit, as people stopped coming around after Christmas Eve.

"I'm just hoping that it all goes well and we can raise plenty of money again this year."

The lights at Axe Close are running until 2 January.

For some, Christmas lights are a community affair. Home owners in Mill Crescent, Westerleigh village, near Bristol, have been putting on a display for well over 10 years.

"We moved into the street five years ago in December and the day we moved in, got a quick 'hello' and 'when are you going to put your lights up?'," resident Adam Saunders joked.

"It's a famous street in Bristol - known as 'Christmas Street'. I knew about it, but I had no idea just how extraordinary it was."

Each year the residents chose a different charity to support. This year they will be raising money for Bristol Children's Hospital Charity - The Grand Appeal.

"We've got about 35 houses in our street, most of them do it, not all, but most," Mr Saunders said.

"It is quite amazing, seeing it going from a dully-lit cul-de-sac to suddenly being this incredible fantasy land of lights and colour."

Mr Saunders said while putting the lights out "is a real pain", everyone helps each other out.

"There is always someone with the longest ladder," he said.

"And we do it for a good cause and literally just because it lights up the community in those dark days of winter.

"We do know the cost of these things but in the scale of what we raise, versus the cost, it is negligible across the entire month."

Mr Saunders said that after 2020's Covid restrictions, they are hoping people will be able to get out of their cars and enjoy the lights more this year.

The lights in Mill Crescent are being switched on on Sunday 5 December.

.

Follow BBC West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: [email protected]