A SOUTH Lakeland family is already gearing up for the festive season by putting up an eye-catching display at their home.

Jeremy Voakes, his wife Mandy and their children have begun putting up thousands of Christmas lights at their Cark-in-Cartmel home in aid of the NSPCC.

Mr Voakes, who works as a vet, said the family first started decorating their home about 15 years ago.

“We started putting up our lights and people would be driving past and they would stop to look at them, and then we decided we would start doing it for charity, my wife was already a supporter of the NSPCC and we have been doing it ever since," he said. "The first year we raised £80 and since then that total has grown to £11,000, we managed to raise £5,500 last year so we’re hoping to beat that target.”

But getting all the lights in place is a mammoth task.

“Last year it took us 26 full days to get all the lights up. We started getting the garden ready in the middle of October, hopefully we will have everything ready for the big switch on December 1. We’ve been switching the lights over the last few years to LEDs which are easier to run and and my wife Mandy is an invaluable help holding ladders, untangling wires and snipping cable ties."

The lights have grown year on year, as the family continues to add to the display.

“The garden is pretty much full now, we have a Facebook Page called Trevenna Christmas Lights and we host open events in the run up to Christmas so people can come and have a look around the displays," said Mr Voakes. "We’ve got five children now and one grandchild so the arrival of grandchildren is an excuse to keep going with it.”

NSPCC community fundraising manager for Cumbria Sandra Jones said: “The sheer amount of hard work and effort that the Voakes family put in every year to help raise funds for the NSPCC is absolutely astounding. We are so grateful for all the hard work they put into their stunning light display to help us continue to be there for children who are in desperate need of our help."