Southport owes a big thank you to an overjoyed local girl – whose magic seeds grew this year’s Christmas tree!
Pippin Gilliver, aged three, took her seeds to the Town Hall Gardens in Southport town centre a few weeks ago with her Mum, Vickie, and sister, Daisy, and watered them every fortnight as she waited to see what happened.
She was delighted last week to discover that a stunning, 18 metre high, glittering Christmas tree had magically appeared overnight.
The stunning attraction, which creates a series of lights displays thanks to its 25,000 LED pixels, was brought to the town thanks to Southport BID as part of its extensive festive programme and was installed by Southport-based firm IllumiDex UK Ltd.
Pippin’s Mum, Vickie Gilliver, said: “I have a huge selection of sea glass for work, and Pippin found them one day asking if they were magic seeds. I told her they were and she asked what would grow if we planted one. It was the beginning of October, so we just said ‘why don’t we see’.
“Daisy and Pip picked out one that whispered the most magic to them and we went and planted it where my partner Craig and I knew the tree would be going up in November.
“We watered it two times a week and whispered wishes to it (“we wish you’ll grow big”, “we wish you’ll grow shiny” etc) until it grew, so it just became her tree.
“We had to visit it almost every day once it had grown!
“From the point where the tree was dismantled after Christmas last year – we told Pip that Santa had taken it to the workshop to keep the elves happy and motivated through the year – Pip wanted to grow another, so this year in October, we did the same thing.”
So good is Pip at growing Christmas trees that she has now grown a second one – at Morrisons supermarket on Lord Street in Southport.
Vickie said: “Anna Ingram, the Community Champion from Morrisons in Southport, then got in touch and asked us to plant theirs as well.
“So this year we have had two Christmas trees to whisper wishes to!
“Daisy is 11, so she understands the truth but loves the magic that it brings to Pip. She’s recently started at Greenbank High School in Southport.
“Pip is three and is at Kidscount Nursery, her teacher thinks it’s fabulous.
“She had her own front garden decorated by IllumiDex last year, so was excited to hear that Pip was growing the one outside The Atkinson.”
The Christmas tree has brought real joy to the Gilliver family, despite some criticism from some on social media that it’s not the same as having a ‘proper’ Christmas tree.
The family has also enjoyed seeing the ‘boulevard of light’ in Southport, which saw IllumiDex UK Ltd create a trail of 300,000 LED lights in trees along both sides of the Lord Street boulevard earlier this year in a scheme commissioned by Southport BID.
Vickie said: “I’m so over hearing how it isn’t a ‘real tree’.
“All of our family LOVE Pippin’s tree. I think it’s such a wonderful feature and a fabulous investment!
“Illumidex really does a wonderful job with it all. The whole of Lord street looks amazing!”
The tree has been provided by Southport BID as part of its packed festive programme for the town this year, which is designed to attract people from across the region to enjoy local shops, restaurants, bars, hotels and other businesses.
Southport BID, working with Southport-based contractors IllumiDex UK Ltd, has also provided bespoke Christmas decorations on streets across Southport town centre.
There are huge ‘Welcome to Southport’ signs hanging across the road at either end of Lord Street.
There are cone-shaped festive decorations at the fire station end of Lord Street, with star-shaped festive decorations at the Ribble building end.
Shoppers can enjoy an array of fun this Christmas with a Gingerbread Trail, a Digital Winter Wonderland, Santa’s Grotto, a Frozen Grotto, a Trail of Trees, and much more besides.
There are other festive treats too with pantomimes at The Atkinson and the Little Theatre, a Winter Light Trail at Victoria Park, Christmas Markets outside Southport Market, Festive Makers Markets at Wayfarers Arcade, an Elf theatre production at The Atkinson, and Christmas movies at Bijou Cinema.
More details of what’s on in Southport this November and December are available on the Southport BID website.
IllumiDex UK Ltd Director Steve Clayton said: “Installing this tree is a massive undertaking! But it looks fantastic.
“We have had a really positive response from people, they love it, especially the children.
“Last year people were queuing to be able to walk through it and look up and see all the light displays. It’s a real talking point, you see so many great pictures of it on social media.
“We have had a brilliant reaction from people who have seen the tree since it has been here, they love it.”
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