Visitors praise ‘community spirit’ of wholesome ‘window advent calendar’ walk in the run up to Christmas

More than 24 houses are taking part in an Upton estate, and it is not too late for families to make the most of this free and feel-good activity as the big day draws closer.

It was 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 organised the activity, but nothing had been done since and she wanted to change that.

She told the Chronicle & Echo that all the windows were ready for December 1, so families could 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, that display has or will be posted to the Upton Grange and Upton One Facebook group in an advent format.

With more than half of advent now complete in the run up to Christmas, Amy spoke to this newspaper about the response to the community pulling together to make this a reality.

“It’s been really positive and we’ve had some really good comments about its community spirit,” she said. “People have said how nice it is to follow the route and see the variety.”

As Amy has posted in lots of different social media groups to raise awareness of what is going on in Upton before Christmas, she likes to think people have travelled from across the town to enjoy it.

All of the displays are winter or Christmas themed, and one resident spent a day-and-a-half decorating her entire window with tissue paper.

“It’s lovely to see such a variety and that people have made an effort,” Amy continued. “People like that it’s free and they can go any time they want.”

Amy hopes this will now become an annual tradition for the Upton community, and become widely known across the town for Christmases to come. She has already had interest from individuals wanting to get involved next year.