Church's Christmas Light Appeal Raises Over £2,700

The St John's Church Christmas Tree will be brighter than ever this year after members of the community rallied round to exceed the Church's expectations by raising over £2,700 in just five days to replace the 1,600 lights that we stolen last week.

“Burgess Hill people have been wonderfully supportive and generous” said Fr Kevin O’Brien, vicar of St John’s.

“Messages of support and donations flooded in so that we reached over £2700 in the space of just one week. This means that the tree will be brighter and more beautiful than ever before. Clearly the people of Burgess Hill were determined not to be defeated by the theft and responded accordingly” he added.

The theft of the lights had been discovered the week before and so the appeal was launched and St John’s set up a crowdfunding page within two days.

“St John’s will now be able to hold our annual Christmas tree lighting service as normal, only this year we will have the extra heart-warming knowledge that each light on the tree represents the hopes and wishes of the people of Burgess Hill. It’s going to be better and brighter than ever.” said Fr Kevin.

A poster will be displayed by the lights giving thanks to all those who donated and supported the appeal.

The Christmas tree service will take place at St John’s Church at 7.00pm on Wednesday the 12th December and will feature carols, a lights countdown and minced pies and mulled punch to follow.

Due to the theft, however, an extra expense will have to be incurred each year as the lights will need to be taken down and stored to prevent a further theft. The church is also looking into the cost of providing CCTV to protect the tree whilst the lights are in place.

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