Surrey’s spectacular Christmas house with more than 40,000 bulbs that brings a smile to people’s faces

Every year for the last 30 years, Ray Jones and his wife Diana have gone all out and decked the halls of their home, raising thousands of pounds for charity. Ray, 71, spends around five days carefully adorning their home in Egham, ready to celebrate Christmas.

Passersby drop donations into the letterbox to go to charity, like Welmede which supports those with disabilities. Ray said: “I’ve been decorating the house ever since we moved in and we started raising money for Welmede, a local housing association for disabled adults, to pay for small things like farm trips so they could do something for Christmas.

“The first year we raised about £200. I think last year was £1,200 but things like covid really knocked it into oblivion because nobody was coming out.”

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Ray’s first ever punt at fundraising was when he was a teenager living in Whitton. Joined with two friends, Ray and his pals dressed up in grass skirts and walked up and down the high street collecting money. He then got a paper round and saved his cash to buy a Christmas tree and lights for a children’s home. Ray also helped his elderly neighbours with things like changing light bulbs and other odd jobs when he was around 12 years old.

It takes days to get all the lights put up, Ray spends around four hours a day outdoors stringing lights on the roof and walls. Despite feeling the cold more since undergoing heart surgery four years ago, Ray continues to decorate his home every winter.

He said: “I had heart surgery on the aorta valve four years ago and because of that my fingers go so numb in the cold. Now I go on the roof when it’s warmer, otherwise I can’t feel my fingers.”

In total, Ray says there are around 40,000 bulbs lighting up their house. Ray said: “Last year when electricity was high it cost around £10 a night to run the lights.”

It’s not just at night time the lights run, Ray and Sheila turn the lights on early in the morning for a couple of hours to bring Christmas cheer to school children and commuters. Ray said: “We turn them on in the morning from 8am to 10am so the kids see them and it’s lovely seeing all their faces lit up.”

Many of the decorations at Ray and Sheila’s house have been collected over the years. Some have also been donated by neighbours.

Ray said: “A lovely guy came round several years ago with decorations he used to put on his house. His wife said he couldn’t do them anymore because he was 82, and we still keep them going. He brought a couple of stars, a ‘Merry Christmas’ sign and a reindeer with a moving head that someone ripped off the roof and broke so I put a neon light around the face to fix it.”

Ray and Sheila’s lights will be switched on at 4pm on Sunday, November 24. Neighbours are welcome to visit to see the switch on which is near Vicarage Road in Egham, Ray says not all the lights will come on at the same time as he has five timers.

For anyone who would like to donate, they will find envelopes on each pillar of the driveway. Donations can be put in the envelopes and posted through Ray’s front door for Welmede and similar charities.