A CHARITY Christmas lights switch on with celebrity guest Mark Williams at Meadow Farm Lane, Horsham on Friday raised £500.
Hosted by Chris Clark and his wife Julie, there was mulled wine and mince pies at 7pm, served to the sound of Christmas carols.
Mark Williams, best known for his comical characters on The Fast Show and as Ron Weasley’s dad Arthur in the Harry Potter films, made a speech highlighting the great work carried out by chosen charity the Make-A-Wish Foundation for children fighting life-threatening illnesses.
He led the countdown to the big switch-on at 7.30pm and then there was a big surprise for the 300-strong crowd. “To the sound of Darlene Love’s version of ‘White Christmas’, we turned on our snow machine which was mounted on the roof and covered the crowd in fake snow,” said Chris. “Mark Williams then spent the next hour and a half signing autographs and posing for photographs with anyone wishing to have their picture taken with him.
“But the main aim of the evening was to raise as much as possible for Make-A Wish, and we are very pleased to say that we managed to raise a massive £502 on the night, which had grown to nearly £700 by Monday night.
“We have already beaten our record of £567.50, which was raised over a six week period last Christmas. We would like to sincerely thank everyone who has donated so far and would like to encourage everyone else to come and see the display and donate what they can to this wonderful and very worthy cause.”