Oscar Saxelby-Lee's excitement as he leads call to light up Worcester

A video has been put together by Visit Worcester which includes footage of Oscar and the community switching on their lights.

Residents were invited to send in footage and photos of their family switching on home or garden Christmas lights in lieu of the usual public Christmas lights switch-on ceremony held in the city centre.

Oscar will lead the community and call out for residents to light up Worcester with him.

The six-year-old from St John's said he couldn't wait to see all the Christmas lights shining in Worcester.

His mum Olivia Saxelby said: "Oscar's can't wait for Christmas. He's so excited, it's non-stop Santa chat in our house.

"We hope to see the streets lit to show just how strong our community spirit is."

Brave Oscar captured the hearts of the city as £500,000 was raised for a gruelling bone marrow transplant in Singapore after he was diagnosed with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

The St John’s schoolboy is now cancer free.

The film will be released on Visit Worcester and other partner Facebook pages at 6pm this evening.

There has been no live switch on this year due to the pandemic, but Sam McCarthy, projects and marketing manager from Worcester BID, is hoping this evening’s event can bring some festive joy to what has been a difficult year.

Sam said: As much as we would have loved Oscar to switch on the main light, we haven’t been able to do so with the pandemic.

“But video shows the whole community being led by Oscar’s as they light up their houses and the city.

“The video will show a story of trying to bring some light in the dark this year.

"Let’s spread Christmas cheer, because we can’t do a switch on and we can’t have big gatherings but there is no reason we can’t all celebrate together.”

Visit Worcester hosted the Light Up Worcester campaign to ensure a Covid Christmas can still bring a seasonal smile to the faces of old and young alike, as the community pulls together.