Elaine and her family have decorated their home for 18 years and continue to do after her husband sadly passed away last year, as a tribute to him and to raise money for charity.
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00:00It's reported that in the UK we spend more than half a billion pounds on Christmas decorations
00:05each year, and the average person will spend at least £600 on gifts.
00:10In a survey conducted back in 2021, it was found that the North East are the most sentimental
00:15when it comes to decorations, where people are more likely to use decorations that have
00:19sentimental value.
00:23I'm at a home in County Durham who has spent the last 18 years decorating the exterior
00:28of their home each year and transforming it into Santa's bottle.
00:31I spoke with the owner, Elaine, about how this started and their amazing contributions
00:35to charity.
00:37Well, probably about 18 years ago, we had a granddaughter, about 3 years old, and my
00:46husband decided to buy a reindeer, and then he bought another reindeer, and another reindeer,
00:52until in the end he said, I'm going to make some stuff.
00:55And all the wooden stuff that is on display here has been made by my husband.
01:00We started doing it for Zoe's Place, then the Air Ambulance, and then Wellerburn Hospice,
01:07and then probably for the last 4 or 5 years, the money is all donated to Daft is a Brush.
01:14And we hope, and we normally do, raise about £2,000.
01:20Unfortunately, I lost my husband last year, but the firm that we have, Tyne Valley Motor
01:27Homes, all the lads at work come up and they put the display up in memory of Derek.
01:33So it lives on through the lads at work, my son and my daughter.
01:38The decorations will be up until the 1st of January, and then they'll come down on the
01:422nd of January.
01:44They're on from half past 4 to half past 9.
01:47Anybody is welcome.
01:48There is a donation bucket beside the snowman.
01:54Please feel free to put as much as you want in.
02:01Elaine's decorations are spread across her garden, with magical displays and festive
02:06music that gets you in the Christmas spirit.
02:09As Elaine mentioned, anyone is welcome to go and check it out, which can be found in
02:13Burnhamfield, County Durham.
02:16The charity that Elaine donates the money to, Daft is a Brush, provides cancer patient
02:21care, specialising in transporting cancer patients to and from hospitals for chemotherapy
02:26and radiotherapy, and it's free of charge.
02:30It's a North East charity that was founded by Brian Burney in 2012, and it completes
02:35thousands of cancer patient journeys each year, with a team of hundreds of volunteers
02:40and a large fleet of ambulances, which you may have seen about the North East, that are
02:44bright blue with yellow cartoon paintbrushes.
02:49All donations received go directly to supporting cancer patients on their journey to recovery.