These inhabitants of Pas-de-Calais make their own Christmas decorations for their city
Through Florian Brassart
Published on
They can be proud of themselves! A Sains-en-Gohelle, in the Pas de Calais, the inhabitants make the Christmas decorations themselves who will be installed at the beginning of December in their city. They met voluntarily for 4 Saturdays to participate in fun and friendly workshops.
It was Christelle Czech, deputy mayor responsible for parties, who had this idea last year in the midst of the Covid-19 crisis. “We had imagined that to give a little cheerfulness to the Sainsois and it had worked very well,” she says. The municipality has therefore put the cover back for Christmas 2021.
The volunteers met every Saturday in the hangar of the town’s technical services to take part in these workshops. We followed this Saturday, November 20 during their last meeting, 5 people were present. “Some residents were sick, but there were 10 to 15 people during the last workshops,” said the elected official.
A sense of pride
Retirees, children, adolescents, young workers … The Sainsois have responded. And they’ve done a good job of making 25 new decorations – from recycled and salvaged materials – for this winter. Without counting those which had already been carried out in 2020. By, Sylvain, Christelle’s husband, painted a magnificent wooden Santa’s sleigh.
A pride for this father attached to his town: “It is very satisfying to embellish the streets of the city with decorations that we have made. These moments’ also allow residents to get involved in Sains-en-Gohelle and great encounters, ”he smiles.
Same story with Delphine, 40-year-old Sainsoise, carefully decorating the wooden trees that will be scattered around town. “I had not participated in the workshops last year, this time I wanted to”, she begins. “It’s useful, stressful and we take pleasure in it. Even my daughters got involved. ”
Everyone is won over!
Other inhabitants have their stone in the building but at a distance, from their homes. “They preferred to work from home because they had the necessary tools at home,” explains Christelle Czech.
The assistant and the volunteers are won over, as is the mayor! “It was essential to relaunch this operation. We needed to recreate a bond between people and invite them to get involved in the city, ”says Alain Dubreucq. “We already have several ideas for the future, the goal is to make it all sustainable. ”
This very low-cost initiative is being emulated in neighboring municipalities. “Annequin met there and we would not be surprised to see others”, slips the city councilor. The decorations will be put in place at the beginning of December in Sains-en-Gohelle. Volunteers can’t wait to see the extent of their work!
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