Simon Wilson reflects on the history of the Chatteris Christmas lights
In 1985 a small group of businessmen officially formed "the Chatteris Christmas Lighting Fund" to bring Christmas lights to the town as volunteers.
Envelopes were posted through the then 3,000 properties asking each household for £1 to purchase the lights.
Roll on 40 years and there’s still a volunteer team responsible for the town's Christmas lights.
November 30, 2025 marked the 40th anniversary of the official switch-on and as a committee, we wanted to make it a special occasion.
We decided to invite the founding committee members to join us for the switch-on and then had the crazy idea to invite the previous 39 people who had switched on the lights.
This became a much harder challenge than we anticipated; the current committee has records going back 10 years with the names of these people, although there were no records going back further so we reached out to the press and social media asking for these people to come forward.
After 11 months of searching, we had 29 of the 39 names.
Thirteen previous people attended the switch-on along with 8 founding members walking behind Santa through the town ending up at the bandstand stage.
We wanted them to carry a lantern as a symbol of the lights and, thanks to a sizeable donation from Carol Avory in memory of her husband Mick who loved the lights, we were able to purchase these lanterns, some of which were gifted to those who attended and the remaining will be used on our churchyard Christmas tree as a lasting memory of Mick.
Jude was the lucky lad who rode with Santa and got to switch on the lights for our 40th anniversary; he was nervous being on stage but did a sterling job.
When the big red button is pressed it really does switch on all the lights at the same time, as was noted by Lenny, our compère, when he paused the countdown clock to give thanks to Chris Savill, our chairman.
After 26 years of involvement with the lights, 13 as chairman, he feels the time is right to stand down and allow someone new to take on the challenge.
He stated: "it is time to introduce some new blood and fresh enthusiasm for the role,"
A film set-sized snow machine guaranteed it would be a white Christmas, covering the area for all to enjoy.
Devon Mandley, 32, turned on the lights when she was just three years old back in 1996, the youngest person to push the button.
This was to honour her father who was on the committee and unfortunately died when he was just 27.
There is a tree light fitting in Jubilee Gardens dedicated to him.
The lights are managed by a committee of just 7 with a pool of around 15 further volunteers helping put the lights up and take them down again.
With yearly running costs in excess of £20,000, the town council's grant helps cover around half of this but, just like when the lights began, we rely on donations to ensure the lights continue.
Simon Wilson, media and publicity coordinator, said: "The lights switch on is a big deal for us and the community as it brings everyone together, seeing people’s faces light up as the button is pushed is what keeps me involved, that and the tremendous pride I feel when I tell people about the lights and that we’re all volunteers."
We’re always looking for people to join our team and be involved with the lights.
We’re now also looking for a chairperson and other committee members to keep the lights going.
If you’re interested in helping please visit our Facebook group.
Donations towards the lights can be made online via our JustGiving page, by popping some cash into one of our collection boxes located in many businesses throughout town, or how about joining one of the monthly Quiz nights held at The George hotel (last Thursday of the month) and The Cross Keys (last Sunday of the month).
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