Carronshore Heritage Forum aim to spark community spirit with festive lights and senior citizen's lunch

In recent years the forum has brightened up the community over the festive period by paying for a Christmas tree, and last year they added street light decorations to the mix on Main Street. This year the Carronshore Heritage Forum has added some additional lights to their collection and they are preparing to host a special event for older locals in the run up to Christmas.

Craig Martin, from the Forum explained: “It was the Christmas tree first and then we progressed to the street lights last year. We’re trying to increase the number of street decorations we can have.

"We have a few extra ones this year, but we’re always trying to find ways to fundraise. It costs a fair bit of money each year as we’ve got to store the lights and then pay for them to go up and then to be taken down again. On top of that we’ve got the cost of the tree.

"It’s the community that is funding the lights and decorations, not the council. It doesn’t come cheap, but it’s an annual thing we want to do as it makes the community a lot nicer for everyone and it brings some community spirit at Christmas.

"We’ve been looking at ways to keep the street decorations and tree going up each year and we’ve set up an online fundraising page this year for donations. All of the money donated for the Christmas lights is spent on them and it doesn’t go anywhere else.”

But it’s not just the village’s decorations and light switch on that the forum are busy organising. They are also working on a Senior Citizens’ Lunch in Carronshore Community Centre.

Craig added: “It’s a new venture for us this year. We just thought we’re doing a lot of stuff for young kids so why don’t we do something for the older generation too.

"We’re planning to hold a senior citizens’ Christmas lunch on Friday, December 16 for a maximum of 60 over 65s who live in Carronshore. Age Concern used to hold a Christmas dinner, but that’s not been held for some time. We’re offering older residents the chance to come together with others for a three course meal and an afternoon of entertainment.”

Entry to the event is by ticket only with tickets available to the over 65s from Carronshore bar, Victoria Inn, Carronshore and Willow’s Cafe. They are also available through the Carronshore Heritage Forum’s Facebook page. Organisers are encouraging anyone who would like to attend the event, which runs from 1pm to 5pm, to get a ticket as soon as possible as numbers are limited.

Craig added: “One of our objectives is to bring a community feeling back into the village and we believe that events including the Christmas lunch, bringing together senior citizens for a few hours, will be supportive within the community.

"We are only able to run our programme of events with the continued financial assistance of our residents, supporting our fundraising events, including our GoFundMe page which we have recently set up so that those who cannot attend our fundraisers can support us.”

Donations can be made to the Heritage Forum’s Christmas lights by clicking here