The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
Spalding town’s Christmas tree is guaranteed some extra sparkle this year thanks to help from the local Lithuanian community.
Around 450 people are associated with the community around Spalding and members have offered to brighten-up the town’s Christmas tree when it goes up in Hall Place.
Spalding town’s forum received a letter from the Linden Community offering to hand-make decorations.
The community, named after the Linden Tree, was created formally in July this year and has reached out to the forum members.
After 16 years in Spalding, Vaida says she and her fellow Lithuanians want to make a difference to the area and forge lasting relationships.
“Christmas is a huge thing in our country and every town and village has a lovely tree decorated. We would like to make some for Spalding,” she said
In her letter to members of the town forum, she said the group: “Want to make a difference in Spalding, be active and socialise in Spalding. We already have 430 members.
“We opened the Lithuanian school for kids aged four to 12 learning about language heritage and history. We ask if our community can decorate the town Christmas tree.”
Forum chairman Roger Gambba-Jones said the tree will be bought as usual but the forum could add money to make it a bigger specimen.
“If they need extra funding I’ll make sure they get the extra funding to get what they need to put on the tree.
“Isn’t that wonderful? All these years we’ve been talking about how to make connections with our Eastern European residents and how they’re getting together and making a community, low and behold, at the most appropriate time of the year they are.
“We must encourage that and keep it going.”
The town’s Christmas tree has been criticised in the past for being underwhelming, a tag the Lithuanians hope to reverse this year.
Coun Gambba-Jones also said the £7,990 allocated for Christmas lights “could become something of an embarrassment to the town in the future when we’re told there’s not enough money left to do the decorations”.
He was told that a ten per cent contingency was in the budget for the Spalding Special Expenses element of the Council Tax, the part of council tax paid by town residents.
