People of Kintore: you may or may not be aware that the Kintore Fundraising Team are solely responsible for the Christmas lights in Kintore. To fully explain, the organisation exists purely to fund, erect and decorate a large Christmas tree in the Town Square; maintain and mount/de-mount the Christmas lights (Motifs) from the lampposts throughout the village; and organise the much loved lights Switch On event - a wonderful occasion for the community to come together, where all children are gifted a selection box from Santa, and the Kintore Pipe Band perform.

Overall this has proved to be an extremely popular event with the residents, young & old, and the lighting brings an enormous and positive impact to those passing through the village.

All of this requires funding, which we arrange in various ways, e.g. stalls at Kintore Summer Festival and the Switch On event, various collection boxes, and so on. Our hard working volunteers - from those manning the stalls, and those undertaking the very large amount of physical work involved - all do so free of charge.

We do not receive any funding whatsoever from the Council, and nor do they provide any manpower or technical assistance.

We have happily operated in this way for many years - until now. An enormous event has brought a cataclysmic effect on our funds, threatening the future of the Christmas lights. Aberdeenshire Council have applied new regulations to the lamppost-mounted motifs, restricting the weight that can be hung on each lamppost. This has deemed 17 of our 23 lights unusable. We have a waiver on the new regulations for this year, but the 17 would have to be completely replaced before next year. We fully understand that the motifs are very popular with residents/visitors, and it would be sad for Kintore not to be lit up at Christmas. We therefore intend to move forward replacing the now unsuitable lights. Unfortunately this expense goes far beyond our current cash holdings; currently the shortfall is estimated at £8,000. to £10,000.

To this end, we are embarking on a major fundraising process, which we are asking the public to assist us with. Any donation, small or large, will be greatly appreciated.

We are sorry to have to ask for your assistance, but we hope you understand our position. Please support the ongoing provision of this extremely popular service to the community.