A FUNDRAISING campaign has been started to bring Christmas lights back to Corringham Town Centre.
The town went without lights last year for the first time, as they were declared unfit for purpose, and the Corringham and Fobbing Community Forum are working to ensure there are new lights ready for this Christmas.
The forum have been given a quote of £20,000 for new festive lights, but if they raise £2,000 they could apply for a grant from Thurrock Council’s Community Development Fund, which funds projects where 10 per cent of the total needed has been raised.
Secretary of the Corringham and Fobbing Community Forum Penny Partridge said there is a definite appetite in the area to see a return of the lights, but the money must be raised by the end of June.
Ms Partridge added: “We’ve always had a big tradition of Christmas lighting at Corringham Town Centre going back many years, but the condition that the lights had fallen into meant they are now unusable.
“The cost of repairing them was going to more than getting new lights, so I posted on Facebook to see if people were interested in new lights, and lots of people were really enthusiastic about the idea. With the Community Development Fund the amount is quite attainable.”
The funding campaign has been greatly helped by a £1,000 pledge from Corringham traders, and Penny is hoping the rest of the community will step up to help with the rest of the money needed.
Ms Partridge added: “We just want the area to look festive again. Thurrock Council tell us Corringham is the most buoyant High Street in the whole of Thurrock. The shops are always busy and there’s always a good atmosphere there. We just want to capitalise on that.
“We want to support our local traders and see them do well, and making Corringham the place to be all helps towards that.”
To donate money to the Corringham Christmas lights fund visit https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/corringhamchristmaslights
