A couple have turned on their Christmas lights display two months after they began rigging their home with hundreds of the festive lights.
Helen and John Attlesey decorate their house in Soham, Cambridgeshire, every year to raise money for charity.
The donations are given to three organisations that helped their grandson Jacob recover from a serious form of epilepsy.
The retired couple have put on the impressive display for almost a decade, but this year decided to switch it on early to get their neighbours into the festive spirit.
The elderly pair ‘plodded on’ during the pandemic and started putting their lights up at the beginning of September.
Helen and John Attlesey decorate their house in Soham, Cambridgeshire, every year to raise money for charity
The retired couple have put on the impressive display for almost a decade, but this year decided to switch it on early to get their neighbours into the festive spirit
They now have ‘hundreds – too many to count’ covering their home, with snowmen, reindeer and an inflatable Santa Claus making up their festive grotto.
The lights were finally ready to be switched on last week and will stay in place until the new year.
Mrs Attlesey said: ‘We started with a few lights nine years ago and every year we’ve added more and more.
‘People come from all over to admire the display, they love it, it makes them happy, it’s really become a tradition.
‘But it is a shame that this year we had to switch on the lights without a gathering to watch, as we’ve done in the past, but we just plodded on through to make sure we could bring a smile to some faces.’
Helen and John Attlesey (pictured) decorate their home to raise money for three charities that helped their grandson Jacob recover from a serious form of epilepsy
The elderly pair ‘plodded on’ during the pandemic and started putting their lights up at the beginning of September
They are not the only ones putting their festive lights up early. Pictured: George Ferris, 73, putting up lightsat his Gravesend home
Tracey Clare’s illuminated house in Lincoln, Lincs., show tens of thousands of LEDs in the shape of Santas, trees, baubles and reindeer
The money raised by their impressive display is donated to East Anglia Children’s Hospices, Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity and Dreamflight.
So far this year the couple have raised £25,000 for the three organisations.
The grandmother added: ‘I’d like to thank everyone who has donated and I hope everyone enjoys the display.
‘It’s just our way of giving back to those who saved our grandson.’
The retired couple are not the only one switching their Christmas lights on weeks earlier than normal this year.
In Doncaster, South Yorkshire, Paul Fenning, 30, a manager of a gas meter company, themed his decorations around classic seasonal stories The Grinch and The Nightmare Before Christmas.
There is also a religious display at Tracey’s home. The mum-of-one said: ‘It’s been a difficult year for everyone so we’ve put our lights up to try and put a smile on people’s faces’
Her festive lights also include a luminated sign asking for Santa to ‘stop here’. Tracey added: ‘It’s been brilliant to see the kids coming along and loving the lights, as well as the adults as well actually’
Mr Fenning, who says his collection of decorations is worth hundreds of pounds, said he put the display up early to ‘bring some joy’ to those affected by the pandemic.
Among the display are three Christmas trees, models of Jack Skellington and the Grinch and a large nutcracker.
He said: ‘I felt I had to get it up early to bring some joy while we’re all stuck in lockdown. Families love to see everything, it’s like a mini winter wonderland.
‘It took about a week to put up, using decorations that look expensive but are all bought fairly cheaply.
‘Most people are mad about the Grinch theme which is massive this year, and we’ve also got great love for the traditional green and red colours.’
Christmas lights are also up on the home of Ian and Helen Cochran in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire. Ian, 68, has been illuminating his house for around 35 years
John Copestick, 74 from Stirchley in Birmingham has already switched on the lights inside his home ready for Christmas
Tracey Clare’s illuminated house in Lincoln, Lincs., also has tens of thousands of LEDs in the shape of Santas, trees, baubles and reindeer.
They’d usually go up at the start of December but Tracey, 36, has jumped the gun this year to try and bring a bit of much-needed festive joy.
The mum-of-one said: ‘It’s been a difficult year for everyone so we’ve put our lights up to try and put a smile on people’s faces.
‘It’s been brilliant to see the kids coming along and loving the lights, as well as the adults as well actually.