Community pulls together to offer wholesome ‘window advent calendar’ walk in the run up to Christmas

More than 24 houses signed up to take part in an Upton estate, and they are encouraging families to come and make the most of this free and feel-good activity throughout December.

It is resident Amy Rogers who organised the ‘advent calendar’ and devised a route so attendees do not miss out on any of the innovative displays.

Amy first got involved five years ago when someone else arranged the activity, but nothing had been done since and she wanted to change that.

She told the Chronicle & Echo that all of the windows were ready for December 1, so families can walk through Upton at any point throughout the month and enjoy what is on offer.

Each window has been assigned a number and on that day in December, their display will be posted to the Upton Grange and Upton One Facebook group in an advent format. The route has also been shared on the page.

When asked why she wanted to organise this free and feel-good event for the community, Amy said: “Times are hard at the moment and there’s not a lot that is free. It’s also helped Upton come together as a community.”

Amy says there is definitely more interest among the residents than there was half-a-decade ago when the advent calendar was last done – to the point where some numbers have double ups and there is more to enjoy.

The residents have decorated their windows however they want, and all of them are Christmas or winter themed.

With snowmen, house scenes and robins as just a few of the themes, Amy said anything goes as long as they have their assigned number in the window.

There is a bear display and visitors are encouraged to guess the names, while another resident is giving out free candy canes to the children who find their home.

Amy hopes this will now become an annual tradition for the Upton community, and become widely known across the town for Christmases to come.