A Stamford family who turned their home into a festive and Halloween attraction to raise money to support children harmed by crime have raised £819.
Father of three Ryan Amies put on a display of over 15,000 lights in the garden and on the front of his Stamford home in Empingham Road including a mega five metre Christmas Tree.
He installed the festive lights, which flashed in different sequences and colours to different festive songs to raise money for Embrace Child Victims of Crime. He wanted to give families somewhere to bring their children to see a light display over the Christmas period and raise money in the process.
Ryan, owner of a computer software company, started raising money for Embrace in October with a Halloween light display. He chose to fundraise for Embrace, which is based in Thorpe Wood, Peterborough because he wanted to support a local children’s charity and had heard about the fantastic work Embrace does to support young victims of crime.
He said his wife Jess and three young sons loved the lights which also included a short video about Embrace to help visitors understand more about the work of the charity.
Ryan said: “We had a steady stream of people every day throughout the month and the children really loved seeing the giant tree and making the music play by pressing the big red button.
“It’s lovely to be able to put a smile on everyone’s faces, and we hope all our visitors enjoyed it. We’re already planning 2023’s show… there’s always room for more lights!”
Embrace Child Victims of Crime Chief Executive Anne Campbell said: “Thank you to Ryan for choosing to support Embrace we really, really appreciate the effort he made to put on such a fantastic display and help us raise awareness about the work we do. The money he and his visitors have raised will help us support children to recover from the terrible trauma they have suffered because of serious crime.”
Embrace Child Victims of Crime supports young victims and witnesses of crime to recover from their trauma and rebuild their lives. The charity supports all victims but has particular expertise supporting those affected by all kinds of abuse, violence and exploitation. Embrace provides emotional support and counselling and practical support including food and school uniform vouchers to help families harmed by crime and struggling because of the cost of living crisis. To find out more visit www.embracecvoc.org.uk.
