By Hayley Robinson

Sittingbourne’s Christmas lights are under threat.

This year’s display will go ahead, but the Sittingbourne Christmas Lights Association claims that unless more volunteers come forward to help raise vital funds there is a real danger it will not go ahead next year.

The future of the lights is at a particularly critical stage as this year marks the end of a three-year contract with the company which supplies them, puts them up in the High Street, maintains and dismantles them.

Estimates indicate the association could pay up to £20,000 per year for a new contract, which is £14,000 more than the current agreement.

The association’s secretary and acting treasurer Pam Griggs said: "The lights will go up at the end of November but after the end of this year it depends on if we get more help to cover the cost.

"At the moment we pay £6,000 for a year. That’s £18,000 for three years, but we could be looking at that for just one year.

"We have a monthly draw which 600 members pay into. It costs £1 a month and it pays out about £300 a month. We have about 20 collectors at the moment, but we could do with an extra half a dozen collectors.

"The more we have, the more money we can raise."

Mrs Griggs said there are only five people who go out collecting people’s donations at the annual sleigh ride in December.

She added: "We can’t have the same people out every night for two weeks. It’s not fair, so we need more help for that.

"If that doesn’t happen then the lights will end. We don’t want it to, but the same people can’t do it all the time. I think people are too frightened it will take over their lives, but it doesn’t have to."

Anyone interested in volunteering should call Pam Griggs on 01795 475773.