A DARWEN man is putting on a Christmas lights spectacular to raise money for the East Lancashire Hospice in memory of his mum.

David Walsh, 32, of Elm Grove, Darwen, lost his mum, Ruth Walsh, 52, to cancer in October this year.

But with help from his neighbours, Joyce Johnson and Sue Freear, David will ‘carry on’ Ruth’s tradition, of decorating the front of the family home.

He said: “When my mum lived here she would light up the house for her own enjoyment.

“She absolutely loved making people smile and enjoyed seeing the children’s faces when they saw the lights and decorations. Now we are raising money to help others like her.”

He said that his three children Chloe, 15, Alishia, 10, and Ellie, 6, were looking forward to collecting cash.

“Along with friends, family and neighbours, my children will be standing outside the three houses with buckets throughout December. All the money we make will be donated to the hospice after Christmas, and hopefully we will be able to build up quite a bit of money.”

“My mum used to love Christmas and would get excited about lighting the house up. She lived for this time of the year and this was one of the main things she enjoyed in life.”

David, who works for East Lancs Warehousing, said his colleagues had already donated £250 to help ‘get them started’.

“We are already on our way to raising a lot of cash and we aim to raise a lot more.

"The lights look very festive and we even have a giant Santa’s Grotto in the garden.

"People are welcome to pop round and make a donation, because every little helps. ”