Make Welling Sparkle This Christmas

Aim

We want to bring the festive spirit to Welling by making Welling sparkle with Christmas lights.

Progressive Welling is a community group formed with the aim to revive Welling and help it become a community again.

So many Welling residents have expressed how they feel Welling has lost its sparkle at Christmas that we want to do something about it this year. A festive looking town centre helps us to feel better, makes shoppers and visitors feel welcome, and gives us all some community pride. Welling has one of the longest high streets in London and has a lot of lamp posts - 78 to be precise.  Our campaign aims to raise enough money to put lighting in the central part of the town centre in Upper Wickham Lane, Welling High Street and Bellegrove Road.  The money raised will make Welling feel really special over the Christmas period and encourage a great community spirit.

We are also planning to have some festive activities on the 30th November in the town centre, including a Christmas trail and Santa's grotto.

Bexley Council have given a £2,200 grant for Welling Town Centre to help improve footfall and this year, we will be putting this towards the festive event with Christmas lights. Local businesses and groups are getting involved with sponsorship but we would also like to invite our community to participate through this crowdfunding campaign. Your pledges, large or small, will make a difference to what we can organise for the Welling community. Our fundraising target is £4,000 and this includes crowdfunding page fees of 3% on the target raised + VAT + 1.67% card transaction fee per donation.  This will enable us bring some sparkle to Welling this year. If we break through the target and achieve more we can look at having even MORE lights.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP!

FAQs

Who is organising the Christmas campaign?   

The community group Progressive Welling is organising the campaign, supported by the local councillors.

Shouldn’t the council be providing Christmas lights?  

Local authorities across the country have the same problems with the need to make savings to preserve essential services. Whether or not we raise the money ourselves will not affect the council’s position, so we may as well try to provide the lights as they won’t happen otherwise. The council provides a grant of £2,200 to each town centre within the borough to support town centres - historically this money has been used by the local Welling business forum (independent of the Council) to fund the Christmas lights.

Will I be able to see what the money is spent on?

Yes, a full breakdown of exactly what is purchased, how much it costs and who it has been purchased from or provided by, will be obtainable from Progressive Welling.

Why can’t the traders pay? It’s their businesses it’s affecting.

We have had pledges of support already from some companies with a presence on our high street, and it is hoped that all Welling's traders will want to make some level of donation. Decent contributions from traders are essential to make a success of this project, and Progressive Welling will be highlighting where possible those who make substantial donations.  That said, it is a tough time for many retailers and it’s unlikely that we would be able to afford the lights through contributions from shopkeepers alone.  Residents will also benefit from the lights and events and we’re looking to them to contribute too.

Can anyone donate?

Absolutely! Please spread the word to all who may be interested, including people with Welling connections past and present.  You don’t have to live in Welling to contribute.

Can my donation be anonymous?

Yes this option is available.

Do I have to give online through the Crowdfunder?

No, you can either pay in through your own online banking, or go into your local bank to pay money in.  Details are:

If you prefer to pay into a bank or through online banking, please make payment to:

Account name :     Welling Town Partnership

Sort code :     30-90-76

Account number :     02858406

Reference :     PW Lights

I can't afford to give much, is it worth it?

Absolutely, yes. If everyone in Welling gives something, however small, we can easily reach our target. It’s all the contributions added together that makes a decent total. We can’t do it with the support of just a few donors, however generous – reaching the target will require a large number of us all to do our bit. 

I’d like to help by volunteering

Your offer is very welcome. Progressive Welling is always seeking new people to help with projects to benefit Welling and there are various ways to get involved. Please email [email protected] or message us via Facebook with more details.

This project successfully funded on 8th October 2019