Since the pandemic, Oxfordshire resident, Martin Claridge, has constructed an impressive – and very illuminating! – Christmas scene on his front lawn in Kennington each year as a way of raising funds for local charities during the festive season.

For 2024, Martin chose Oxford Health Charity’s Respite for Oxfordshire’s Sick Youngsters Appeal as one of the two charity funds he wished to support through this amazing annual event and he raised a fantastic £975 for ROSY!

With the display having taken hundreds of hours to build, this remarkable spectacle was bigger and brighter than ever and the Charity team were thrilled to be able to join Martin at his home – along with members of the ROSY care team and a multitude of spectators – to celebrate his ‘Big Christmas Light Switch-on’ on 15^th November.

From then until the New Year, visitors were greeted with a vast array of illuminated decorations, including reindeer, penguins, candy canes and snowmen, positioned around a central, beautifully decorated, Christmas tree while, opposite, Santa welcomed families in Martin’s amazing, handmade, reindeer-drawn sleigh. Children could even post a letter to Santa in a special postbox!

The Oxford Health Charity team would like to say a huge thank you to Martin and his team of volunteers for choosing to support our ROSY Appeal, as well as for all their time and effort spent creating such a wonderful event for local families to enjoy. Our deepest thanks also to all those who donated during their visit to Martin’s festive display – your generosity will help us continue to fund the delivery of much-needed additional respite care to Oxfordshire's terminally ill, acute and chronically sick children in their own homes. 

To find out more about our ROSY Appeal and the support it helps to provide, or to make a donation, please visit our ROSY Appeal page.