Years ago, Cleveleys had all kinds of festive cheer, but like in many places, it had dwindled to almost nothing. So predecessors of what’s now Care for Cleveleys started bringing Christmas Back to Cleveleys – way back in 2019! Here’s the story of the long and winding road to the better Christmas displays that the town enjoys today…
Bringing Christmas Back to Cleveleys
Extending the Day and Creating an Evening Economy
In a bid to help businesses to be profitable, the original plan back in 2019 was to encourage people into town from mid afternoon and over tea time. To encourage people to call in at Cleveleys on the way home from work, for a spot of shopping, a drink or a snack with friends or a treat for the kids after school.
The Shipwreck pub open in the middle of the high street in May 2020. Then Decades bar opened, followed by The Vault at Cleveleys Square and the Glasshouse at Bispham Road. Over the other side of the tramway there’s a number of food and drink businesses, including Wetherspoons. So the seeds of this plan were there. Today, Cleveleys has a vibrant evening economy and it’s a great place to visit, day or night.
Where it all started, in 2019
Originally called the Coastal Community Team, back in 2019 the volunteers had an aspirational plan to create Cleveleys own mini illuminations. The plan was to secure funding to install festoon lights over the road in the central section of Victoria Road West. A very mini version of the Blackpool Illuminations, installed either on new poles or suspended from buildings.
The first proposal was for a stretch of lights in a Z shape over the road, from the clock at Nutter Road/the Regal to the alley at New Look/Halifax (approx). They’d be lit for several hours each day during the miserable winter months, from November to February. Bulbs could be on in the afternoon, morning and throughout the day.
Care for Cleveleys applied for various grants and were pleased to be selected as a Co-op Community Charity. Their funding added a significant amount of money into the coffers, banked and saved for the future…
The team knew it would be a complicated project to deliver. As various things conspired to make it incredibly difficult, it went on the back burner. Property and land ownership issues, absentee landlords, a huge amount of admin work and additional funding requirements all meant it wasn’t happening – for now.
So the first 2019 iteration went on hold, but wasn’t completely cancelled. Some things take a long time to materialise!
Homemade Decorations
In the absence of any fancy commercial decorations, the volunteers decided to make their own out of recycled materials. With hundreds of chopped up milk bottles made into pretty snowflakes, the clock garden was decorated. And packaging materials became big Christmas bows, tied onto the dozens of bollards in town. Reindeers and wreaths made out of scrap wood and pine cones decorated the large planters. It all looked very pretty!
Fast Forward to 2021
Fast forward to the winter of 2021. All UK high streets had been hard-hit by the pandemic and a dramatic shift to online shopping. The government was handing out grants to local authorities to help to revitalise town centres. By now the Coastal Community Team has renamed as Care for Cleveleys. The town also has Cleveleys Together, the new strategic town partnership board. Their aim is to preserve a bright future for Cleveleys.
The government allocated Welcome Back Funding to all local councils, to cover the costs of attracting people back to town centres. Making them welcoming and safe places for people to use. Here in Cleveleys, Wyre Council allocate some of that money to brightening up the festive season and spreading festive cheer! Care for Cleveleys organised a lovely Christmas event in the town centre, with street performers and entertainment.
Free Festoon Lights for Cleveleys Businesses
Cleveleys Together also decide to revisit festoon lights. This time in a manageable way, avoiding the infrastructure problems of the town.
Using Welcome Back Funding, the Cleveleys Together Town Centre Partnership invested in a limited number of festoon lights, complete with lamps. They were donated to businesses who could use them to light up their forecourts. Philips Jewellers was the first shop front to be done, as an example. Loads of other shops around the area have done and are doing the same.
A Long Term Lighting Plan
It was all part of a long term plan to make the town twinkle through all the miserable winter months. These festoons are for life, not just for Christmas 
The aim of the funding is to commercially invigorate towns. In the spirit of the funding, Cleveleys Together bought the lights at an excellent price from a local Cleveleys business. J’s Direct Electrics on Rossall Road has been very helpful – give them a try next time you need something!
Bringing Christmas Back to Cleveleys – 2022
This is where it gets really exciting! It’s not a lot by many town standards, but it’s a huge step forward for Cleveleys. Members of the new Cleveleys Town Centre Group worked hard to make the town shine, with a sparkling display of new lights!
For the first time in a long time, proper Christmas lights arrived in Cleveleys, switched on at a special community event on Thursday 8 December. Including lights on both the two clocks on the high-street, planters and the bus station. Plus the piece de resistance – festoons suspended from the street lights!
Christmas Lights in 2023 and 2024
By now the Care for Cleveleys Group is getting into the swing and building on the festive display each year.
Additional lights brightened up the two small alleys off Victoria Road West in 2023, along with lights around the canopy at New Look.
Having successfully applied for UKSPF funding, the town enjoyed a wonderful Christmas Switch On Event on Saturday 2 December 2023
Then in 2024, extra lights brightened up the other end of the high street, on the canopy outside Poundland. The clock garden became even more twinkly with more lights – and looks like another Christmas tree!
Another UKSPF funded Christmas Switch On was enjoyed by all, and this year the lights were turned on by local celebrity Russell Grant! In 2024 a new Christmas event was also added to the calendar – Meet Santa in his Grotto. By mid December, most of the large Christmas events are over and done with, so this is a chance to enjoy more festive cheer!
Special Thanks
Little by little, year by year, Cleveleys is looking more and more festive. There’s still a long way to go, but hard work and community effort is making it happen.
It’s the amazing Care for Cleveleys volunteers who are bringing Christmas back to Cleveleys. They are the ones who organise and coordinate all of the festive lighting. This includes buying products from various suppliers and securing licenses/permissions.
Raising the money to pay for it all is also carried out by the C4C volunteers – and another huge task. Wyre Council provides a generous grant each year, but the total cost is significantly more.
And town centre traders play a huge part in making the own light up. With limited public infrastructure, the display relies on individual shops and landlords to provide fixing points and electrical connections. Individual businesses also pick up the cost of the electric where they provide a connection.
Ryan and Stewart from RS Electrical are a huge help too. Larger items are installed by specialist contractors, but Ryan and Stewart are brilliant at the small jobs.
Without everyone working together, none of this would be possible. So thank you to everyone who plays a part, no matter how small.
Join the C4C group on Facebook
Follow the Care for Cleveleys Shop Facebook page for news and star buys