Christmas is saved

Fiona Howard • Published 8 Oct 2009 11:00 5 Comments

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Donation guarantees lights switch-on

A HELENSBURGH brother and sister have given Argyll and Bute Council a £2,800 Christmas present ... and saved Christmas in Helensburgh.

Kevin and Caroline Mundie have donated the money to the council in an attempt to save Helensburgh's Christmas lights.

Their generous donation came after reading in last week's Advertiser that the festive light show expected in the town may not go ahead because of a shortage of cash.

Councillor Ellen Morton presented the cheque on their behalf and read out a letter from them saying that they had both enjoyed the festive lights switch on event for the past couple of years and wanted to help.

The sum of £2,800 was mentioned in the story as the shortfall in the costs of running the lights switch on but the area committee heard that the money was given to the council to use as they saw fit for the lights.

The committee welcomed the donation which will make it possible for them to have lights and tree in Colquhoun Square and lights on trees in the outlying villages.

And a five member study group has been set up by the committee to look into the future of the festive lights display in the town and to consider ways to move forward from this year's disappointment.

The council has £14,165 in the pot for the festive displays around Helensburgh and Lomond, the lights in Colquhoun Square and trees in the villages option will cost £17,350 but the generous donation from the Mundies means that the council will only be £385 short and it is hoped that they may be able to cover that through negotiations with suppliers to cut the costs.

The area committee also heard that a number of local businesses have come forward to volunteer to take care of the lights in the future and that another group of volunteers is considering ways to raising funds for displays in years to come.

FULL STORY IN THIS WEEK'S ADVERTISER

This article appeared in Helensburgh Advertiser 08 Oct 09

Have your say. Post a comment on this article.

Edward J Matheson
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Oct 8, 18:26
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WHAT A VERY KIND DONATION CAROLINE AND KEVIN THIS WILL MAKE A BRIGHTER AND MUCH HAPPIER CHRISTMAS IN THE TOWN FOR ALL.

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Hazelkaye
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Oct 9, 17:28
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Don't be surprised if they then receive the electricity bill for these lights!

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jacques mesrine
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Oct 11, 01:14
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Its nice to see someone being benevolent towards the community of Helensburgh, instead of just taking away all the time just like the Helensburgh Advertiser does.

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melanie andrews
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Oct 12, 09:10
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I really do hope that someone somewhere will follow through why the lights that were bought and paid for by the people of Helensburgh were not insured? If they were insured as the good man at the council told me then where is the insurance pay out for the damaged lights? Surely the insurance money would have paid for the lights to be replaced? Now if they were not insured there in lies a huge can of worms doesnt it ,as the council workers should not have been anywhere near them - health and safety states after all!!!! I am sure the local councillors now involved in this lights fiasco will get to the bottom of it all.

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darrel hendrie
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Oct 12, 17:43
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last weeks story said that due to the shortfall there would only be lights in Colquhoun Square. now the council have been given the money to cover the shortfall the news is that we will only have lights in errrr Colquhoun Square.isnt that what they said would happen before they got the cash? that makes no sense neither does why it costs £17,000 to put the lights up and take them down. Does this include the electricity bill and the insurance? and if it covers the insurance why is the damage to the lights not being claimed on the insurance. if they were not insured they shouldnt have been put up. and if they were damaged they must have known that back in january so why wait until october.

billy petrie said if everyone in the town gave a pound we would have great Xmas lights, erm we have already given this council hundreds of pounds each in council tax.

Ever been conned? Bah Humbug

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