PEOPLE from near and far who travelled to a house in Prudhoe to enjoy a visual Christmas display have benefited local people in need.

Wayne Bond usually attracts visitors to his home on Castlefields Drive at Halloween for the scary visuals that he produces on his house with various projectors and special effects, in a process called projection mapping.

This Christmas he decided to do 30-minute shows three days a week in a festive theme, featuring all the Christmas favourites such as Santa, the elves’ workshop and reindeer flying over Prudhoe.

He asked those who attended the show, coming from Prudhoe and further afield, to make donations to the Prudhoe branch of the West Northumberland Food Bank. With more than 1,000 people attending, he gathered up a huge number of donations.

“No matter what people brought, from a packet of rice to babies’ nappies, people did what they could and together it has made a huge impact,” said Wayne. “My only criteria was that whatever was donated stays in the Prudhoe area and I have made this happen.

“My favourite most moving moment was a little girl who showed me a receipt for £5 and handed me a bag full of goodies, this girl who was about seven years old had spent her pocket money to help others in need.”

Volunteers from the food bank, based at the Spetchells Centre, picked up the donations this week, which will be a welcome addition to help them through the post-Christmas period.

Volunteer Eileen Purves said: “What we find, I feel personally, is we have lots of donations over Christmas but it will die off.

“I think because the film I, Daniel Blake has been on again over the Christmas there has been another big push with lots of donations. But Wayne has donated a huge contribution to see us through and the fact he wants it to remain in Prudhoe is great.”