Tree of Joy to be switched off for another year a week Sunday

The landmark festive decorations on the Weighbridge roundabout remind islanders about the Rotary Club of Guernsey’s Tree of Joy campaign, where people buy gifts for children who would not otherwise have gifts this Christmas.

Guernsey Rotary Club community services director Mike O’Hara said that, weather permitting, it would take two or three hours to ‘undress’ the tree.

‘As well as a cherry picker from Marine & General, there will be 20 or 30 Rotarians to help pack them away. There are 32 strands of lights, each 30m long, so it’s quite a job. They then go off to Stan Brouard’s who very kindly store them for us for free,’ he said.

‘The Tree of Joy campaign was very successful, and we had a huge quantity of gifts donated. We would really like to thank our sponsors, PwC, Butterfield and Islands Energy. The tree is an expensive enterprise, and it wouldn’t be possible without their help.’

He said that the Guernsey public had also been incredibly generous on the charity’s flag day this year.

‘We raised over £7,000 which went to providing 160 food hampers, which the Rotarians delivered to those in need over the festive period,’ Mr O’Hara added.

Well-known islander Roy Sarre has proposed that the ‘tree’ stays lit for the month of January, as a beacon of light and hope in tough times.