Back in December 2018, GAP Group, alongside one of its major customers, supported an annual charity event in Weston, Cheshire organised by a local man named Graham Witter. Each year Graham holds a Christmas light display at his family home and arranges various attractions to entertain his visitors. GAP’s Non-Mechanical depot in Manchester supplied Track Mats which were used to make access to the event possible by allowing visitors to park their cars and attend the attraction.
Graham’s event takes place every December, it is hugely popular within the community including attractions such as visits from Santa every weekend in Santa’s Grotto with the opportunity to take ‘sleigh selfies’ with him, Christmas music and festive treats. This past December was particularly successful, welcoming more than 18,000 visitors to the family home, a larger amount than ever before. Each year hundreds of people of all ages come along to support the fundraiser and it has actually become a family tradition for many local people.
This year the community spirit and overwhelming generosity from visitors resulted in an impressive £26,760 being raised for the Donna Louise Hospice, exceeding any amount raised in previous years. Since first opening to the public in 2013, the Christmas lights display has raised £92,310 in total for the charity and Graham has decided that this year’s funds will help finance a learning disability nurse over a 12-month period and provide two ‘Sign and Symbol’ communication workshops for staff.
The Donna Louise children's and young people's hospice provides respite and care for children and young adults who have life limiting conditions, meaning they are not expected to live beyond their teenage years into adulthood. The care is provided at both the hospice and at patients’ homes. The display was initially set up for Graham’s sister Jessica, who benefited from the care provided by the Donna Louise but sadly passed away in 2015.
After the event, Graham took the time to write and send a letter to the depot thanking GAP for their efforts in supporting his much-loved community fundraiser and how important the help was to ensure The Donna Louise Hospice can continue to deliver excellent services to children and young people across Cheshire and Staffordshire.
Graham commented: “I’m so grateful to the GAP Group who have generously supported my festive winter wonderland and have helped make my 2018 light display a resounding success. The display involves hundreds of hours of hard work, and months of planning and preparation beforehand – but without the support of GAP Group in providing car park matting for the hundreds of visitors, I could not possibly have made December’s event happen.”
He concluded: “I thank you so much for your support. It has been a pleasure working with you.”
GAP is ecstatic that they were able to assist Graham with his fantastic event allowing him to raise an amazing amount of money for an incredible charity.