Thousands of residents turned out for Christmas lights switch-on shows over the weekend to celebrate the countdown to the festive period and the very best of St Helens borough.
Events organised by St Helens Borough Council’s events team saw action-packed entertainment held in the boroughs two town centres, St Helens and Earlestown, featuring a host of local talent from the world of music and dance, with both shows headlined by multi-award-winning band, Boomin.
Pride of St Helens ‘Child of Courage’ winners, Jake Cathcart and Fearne Disbury, as well as Christmas card design competition winners joined the Mayor of St Helens Borough, Councillor Sue Murphy, in switching on the towns’ Christmas tree lights, kindly sponsored by organisations and companies that are overseeing key regeneration and infrastructure projects in the borough.
• The English Cities Fund, the council’s 20-year borough-wide regeneration partner
• Balfour Beatty, contractor of the Parkside Link Road scheme
• City Fibre who are currently carrying out works as part of a £30m investment to bring full fibre connectivity within reach of almost every home and business in St Helens Borough
Praising those who performed, attended, organised, and supported this year’s switch on events, St Helens Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Wellbeing, Culture and Heritage, Councillor Anthony Burns, said:
“Our annual town centre Christmas lights switch on events give a platform to the many talented individuals and groups we have here to show off the very best of the borough over a two-day celebration as we begin the countdown to Christmas – and that was most certainly the case again over the weekend.
“Every year we get such a good turn-out, no matter the weather, with people of all ages turning out in numbers for a sing-along and a dance thanks to the many local talented artists that we have here in our borough, and it’s a reason to be proud of where you come from.
“Over the past few years, we’ve really shifted the focus of our Christmas lights switch-on events to a celebration of everything that is great about our borough and a lot of work goes on behind the scenes by our events department as we look to offer more with less given the current financial challenges we face.
“That’s why it’s a massive help to secure external support, so my thanks go out to our partners for their sponsorship contributions – as well as our Christmas tree supplier, Rainfords – a fantastic local independent business. Our Christmas trees look stunning and you’ve really helped us spread some much-needed Christmas cheer.”
Christmas lights will also be switched on in other area across the borough, including:
Moss Bank, Elliot’s Field – 30 November, 4:15pm
Haresfinch Park – 30 November, 5:30pm
Haydock, Haydock Library – 1 December, 6:30pm
Thatto Heath, Thatto Heath Road – 2 December, 4:30pm
Windle, Bleak Hill Primary School – 2 December, 2:00pm
Windle, Victoria Park – 3 December, 4:30pm
Rainford, Church Road – 3 December, 3:45pm
Newton-le-Willows, St Peter’s Church – 4 December, 5:00pm
Parr, the Concourse, Derbyshire Hill Road – 5 December, 4:00pm
Billinge, Millennium Garden – 9 December, 6:00pm
For event updates and to find out what else is happening across the borough this Christmas – including a Festive Fun event in Victoria Park on Saturday 3 December, featuring the annual Santa Dash and Santa and Reindeer visit: www.sthelens.gov.uk/christmas – ‘like’ the What’s on in St Helens on Facebook page or follow @whatsonsthelens on Twitter.
@prideofsthelens @StHelensMayor @Muse_Devs, @balfourbeatty @CityFibre
