'It was magical' - Family of tragic Hartlepool man praise charity event
Every house in Nuthatch Close, in the Bishop Cuthbert area of the town, went through a spooky transformation on Saturday, October 30, and Sunday, October 31, to help raise money for DS43 Community Defibrillators.
The charity was set up in memory of Hartlepool man Danny Shurmer who passed away in June after suffering a cardiac arrest.
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Hide AdDanny, an avid Hartlepool United fan and Hartlepool Cricket Club player, lived in the Bishop Cuthbert area and bought his first home in Nuthatch Close before moving nearby.
Each of the 40 houses in the street was lit up and decorated in an individual theme, with dancing skeletons, singing pumpkins and even a witch stirring a pot taking over the street.
Organisers have said that the turnout was “in the thousands” and people had to queue at one point in order to walk around the street and admire the impressive decorations, which were provided free of charge by Artistic Solutions.
Debbie McGibbon, 44, who is one of the organisers, said: "It was unbelievable. It was way more than any of us expected it to be like.
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Hide Ad"We didn’t expect the turnout that we had. We don’t know how many people came, but we suspect it’s in the thousands.
"It was an absolute amazing support from the town.
The early intervention coordinator added: "We know that there are people that even came from out the town. I think they came from Stockton, Middlesbrough, Peterlee – people were telling you on the night where they travelled from.
"That was certainly not expected by any of us.”
The event was organised by neighbours’ group Team Nuthatch, which was formed during the first lockdown.
Debbie has said that they originally hoped to raise £1,000 and were left “absolutely thrilled” after £3,646 was raised in total.
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Hide AdDanny Shurmer’s mother, Pam Shurmer, who attended the event, has described it like “something out of Disney”.
Pam said: "It was an absolutely fabulous weekend.
"It was magical.
"We are blown away. We are very grateful for what people are doing in memory of Daniel. The generosity has been outstanding and the fact that this group of people actually thought of us is heart warming.”