Hello everyone in Masham. Here is an update about the Festive Light displays you can expect to see in Town this December.
We have had to reduce the scope of displays this year because of a reduction in Parish Council funding. There will be no displays on Leyburn Road, The Avenue, Park Street and Thorpe Road. However, rest assured that the centre of Masham will continue to sparkle this Christmas, as usual!
When MCL inaugurated in 2014, we established a partnership with Masham Parish Council (MPC). Our fundraising group took responsibility for purchasing, refurbishing, repairing and testing festive lights, and planning the displays including managing the contractors to put them up and take them down. The Parish Council insured our volunteer activities, and paid the contractor to mount and dismount the Lights.
Costs have risen significantly since Covid, and stringent new regulations around contractor accreditation mean a lot of local electrical companies no longer work on festive lights. Masham, Leyburn, Thirsk and Bedale have all lost local contractors and have to employ specialists from further afield at greater cost.
The full display we put up last year cost circa £6,000 to mount and dismount. MPC paid £4,000 of this, MCLA funded the remaining £2,000. Prior to last year, from 2014 to 2024 the cost for this was budgeted for, and paid for entirely, by MPC.
Sadly, despite supporting Masham Christmas Lights Appeal for 12 years from 2014, Masham Parish Council allocated zero budget for Lights this year. However at the time of writing, they have relented and allocated a one off sum of £1,000 for this year alone.
MCLA have consistently raised circa £2,800 per annum since 2014, to develop and maintain lighting displays for Masham. This is thanks to the generosity and support of our community. This money has bought, repaired and refurbished the displays that we all enjoy now.
However if we are to be left to shoulder the additional cost of putting them up and taking them down (albeit with the reduced scheme mentioned above, costing just under £3,400), and insuring our activities (quoted at £640), it becomes unsustainable. We do not have the capacity to raise £6,840 each year to deliver the Festive Lights scheme.
MCLA will continue to fund a scheme of Festive Lights in Masham as long as our resources allow, but without committed long term funding support, the future is uncertain.
So we need to explore a new sustainable funding model if we are going to continue to make Masham sparkle at Christmas. The annual cost is going to be a minimum of £6,840 per annum with a reduced scheme, so if you have ideas on how we can raise that sum consistently, as we have since 2014, we would love to hear from you. Thank you for reading this far!
The Masham Christmas Lights Appeal Team. 14th September 2026
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