Council's appeal to save Christmas celebrations

Peterborough City Council needs £58,000 to host Christmas festivities in the city

For a second year, a cash-strapped council is calling on businesses to help save Christmas celebrations in a city.

Peterborough City Council issued an appeal to raise £58,000 for this year's festivities, which included a Christmas tree and decorations in Cathedral Square.

The local authority, which faced a predicted budget gap of more than £20m in 2025-26, said the sponsorship appeal was one "of a number of decisions to support the council's budget strategy".

It came after the 2024 Christmas celebrations were nearly called off after a £22,000 shortage of funds, before city councillors, organisations and individuals chipped in to save the day.

The authority's councillors also contributed cash from the Community Leadership Fund – a pot of money they could use each year on projects that benefited residents in their ward.

Earlier this year, the council announced several budget-cutting measures, including a rise in council tax by 4.99%, reducing Peterborough Museum's opening times and changes to the Central Park toilets' cleaning schedule in a bid to make £23m of savings.

Clair George, head of safer communities at the council, said: "As part of a number of decisions to support the council's budget strategy, we are again offering sponsorship packages and opportunities for Christmas 2025.

"It costs approximately £58,000 for the Christmas Tree, lights and switch-on event.

"We were pleased with the response last year, and depending on the number of enquiries we receive, we will stop the appeal as soon as we've been able to confirm all costs will be covered."