Residents turn festive tradition into fundraiser for Dougie Mac

Festive residents in a Stoke-on-Trent street have raised nearly £30,000 for Dougie Mac. Each year families living in Bromsberrow Way, Meir Park, dress their homes with Christmas lights and decorations to raise money for the hospice.

The cul-de-sac – known locally as ‘Christmas Street’ – attracts thousands of visitors from Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire every year, with some people making it part of their Christmas tradition on Christmas Eve and even Christmas Day.

Over the last nine years, residents have raised an outstanding £29,612.23 with last year’s collection amounting to £7,451.45.

One of the residents, Dee Collett said: “Quite a few of us have been decorating our houses for about 20 years and it just spread through the street from there. Just over 10 years ago we noticed people had started visiting our street and referring to it on the estate as ‘Christmas Street.’  It was then that we thought maybe we should start fundraising for a charity.

“We chose Dougie Mac as it is close to some residents’ hearts as we have unfortunately lost relatives who all had amazing support from the hospice. It’s also an amazing local charity so we couldn’t think of a more deserving charity for us to fundraise for.”