Volunteers happy to help with delivery of Christmas Eve boxes in Wick and beyond
Volunteers have shown their Christmas spirit by stepping forward to help with the distribution of Christmas Eve boxes in Wick and outlying areas.
The seasonal doorstep delivery service is being organised by the Wick Christmas Lights Committee and its team of elves, and is proving popular with local parents.
The group's chairwoman, Claire Mackenzie, said: "We've still got a few spaces left.
"We've currently got between 80 and 90 boxes being delivered out. We're really thankful that we've got quite a lot of volunteers who have offered to do some driving and deliveries for us.
"We're doing Halkirk and Keiss as well, so without these volunteers we couldn't do all that."
There is still time to get in touch via the group's Facebook page.
Meanwhile, the Santaland lights at Wick's Rosebank Playing Fields were given a virtual switch-on through Facebook at the weekend. The Christmas tree lights in the town centre are expected to be switched on this week, once new lights to arrive following a technical hitch with the original ones.
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4 / 4"The lights went on at the Rosebank on Saturday and people have been telling us they've gone up past and it's lovely. That's what it's all about," Claire said.
"Every year the community is so grateful for what we do, but I think this year even more so. From the comments on Facebook and in passing when you see people, they're just so delighted that there is that little bit of Christmas cheer.
"On our committee we've got about seven or eight members but we're very grateful to local businesses. A lot of the boys who work for G&A Barnie come out and give us a hand putting the lights up – they're qualified to operate machinery, and Simpsons give us their machines. We couldn't do it without them."
Normally the switch-on is a focal point of Wick's annual fun day. Covid-19 meant that was not possible this year, but on Saturday many local shops still had deals and special offers to encourage people to shop locally.
Claire said: "It's a shame because the impact on the town of not having a fun day is unbelievable – it affects all the traders. For a lot of the town shops it's their busiest day of the year.
"It was nice to see that a lot of them were still doing fun day deals and trying to attract customers. Speaking to them, they say people are starting to shop locally this year and it is helping out.
"Hopefully we will be back to normal next year.
"It's just a shame that Saturday was such a cracking day weather-wise for fun day and we missed out."
Volunteers from Thurso Christmas Lights Group have been busy putting the lights in place. Rather than the traditional event watched by crowds of people in the town centre, the switch-on is to be streamed on Facebook Live today around 4pm.
As in Wick, there is no fun day this year due to the Covid-19 restrictions but some of the Thurso retailers are running special offers this week and through December.
Thurso Community Development Trust says there will still be Christmas shop window awards on Saturday along with the draw for the "Love Local, Love Thurso" voucher scheme – offering those who shopped locally through November a chance to win a bumper pack of vouchers worth £500.
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