COMMUNITY campaigners are hoping to give everyone a tree-mendous Christmas.

Social media group Old Leigh Photographs has launched an appeal to help fund a brand new Christmas tree outside the town hall in Leigh.

The online fundraiser site has a target of £5,000 which will buy the tree, concrete stand, lights and the decorations. A go fund me page to gain support and donations was launched on Friday and has already reached a total of £1,235 in just less than a week.

Stewart McGarrie, of Old Leigh Photographs, said: “Wigan Council have been very supportive of our cause and have given us a licence and will provide electricity for free. At the end of the day they just don’t have the money to give us.

“But it is very important that we have a tree. Since opening the donation page we have had a large amount of support for having a tree and people are very encouraging of it. It is going to happen. If we have a shortfall of money we will find the money with support from our local business and other funding. But I really do think that we will exceed our target. The idea of getting funding from the community is that it makes it their tree, and that is what we want“If we go over our target that will be great because obviously the tree will be real so that will allow us to have money to replace it next year and that is what we want to do. We want a tree every year.We want to be able to install the tree on December 14.”

Councillor Myra Whiteside, chairman of the Leigh Town Centre Committee, said: “We wish the campaign well.

"A new tree for Leigh will complement the town centre’s Christmas lights."

“The town centre committee will offer advice to the campaign where appropriate.”

Leigh’s Christmas lights are funded jointly by Wigan Council and the Leigh south, east and west and Atherleigh ward councillors through their Brighter Borough funding. Annually the Christmas lights cost £32,000.