Greyhound Close was constructed during 1994/5, with all eleven houses occupied by late 1995. Many of the families had babies and/or young children, and others followed during the next few years! With so much in common, neighbours soon became friends and quickly established a close knit community, largely focussed around creating fun for the children.

One of the many things in this vein was that some of the houses began putting up a few outside lights at Christmas, and in a few years, this had extended to the majority. Although originally intended for the enjoyment of children in the Close, it slowly became of interest to the wider community. Visitors would often return several times during the Christmas period and suggested that we should put the lights to some purpose and collect for charity.

With our long held focus on children, we decided to start collecting donations in 2003/4 for Naomi House, which provides care for children and teenagers with life limiting issues, and support for their parents and families. (If you would like to learn more about the work of this Charity, then please visit their website on www.naimihouse.org.uk, or ask one of us for a leaflet). To date we have collected over £25,000 for this charity.

As other deserving causes of particular importance to the Residents have been identified, we have also collected for them. This includes a contribution of £1,271 towards a special bed for a former neighbour’s child with cerebral palsy, £250 towards equipment for a nearby Pre-School, etc. In total, £1,923 has been donated to other good causes.    

We wish to emphasise that every penny donated for the Charities we have supported goes to them, as all the costs of purchasing, installing, operating, and maintaining the lights are borne by the residents.  

Thank you for coming to see our lights and we hope you have enjoyed your experience. If you have been able to make a donation, we are very grateful. Either way, we would be appreciative of you telling your families, friends and neighbours about our display, so that our support of these Charites can continue.

We wish you all a very Happy Christmas and New Year.