A Northmead resident’s spectacular Christmas decorations have shined a light for kids with cancer this December.
For 27 years, Andy Catajar has been bringing Christmas cheer to Northmead with his brilliant display of lights and decorations. And this year, he’s chosen to raise funds throughout December for the Kids with Cancer foundation.
Located at 45 Grassmere Avenue, Northmead, Mr Catajar’s home will be hard to miss.
Decked out with Christmas ornaments and plenty of Santa Clauses and Reindeers, people are expected to come far and wide to check out the Northmead house.
Mr Catajar is also promising the biggest display of Christmas lights yet, with around four million lights set to decorate his home. With so many lights and decorations, Mr Catajar said he had to start putting them up back in June.
Getting this year’s Christmas display perfect is particularly important to Mr Catajar, as it’s the first time in two years he has been able to decorate his home.
“The last decorations we did [were in] 2019, because of COVID I did nothing,” he told Parra News.
“That’s why this year we’re making it bigger and better to make up for it.”
Although the big reveal of the lights officially occurred on December 1, Mr Catajar hasn’t stopped decorating, with even more lights expected to go up before Christmas.
In fact, the 83-year-old grandfather loves Christmas so much that he and his wife Carmen have been doing the festive display of decorations for nearly three decades now.
“I’ve been putting these Christmas decorations up for 27, nearly 28, years,” he said.
“I started small and then it became large, and every year bigger and better [than before].”
Along with dazzling lights, people planning to check out the Northmead home will also be able to donate to the Kids with Cancer Foundation. The self-funding non-profit charity helps families in the form of financial assistance, assisting in everything from food vouchers and wigs to mortgages and funeral expenses.
“We are so grateful to be the recipient of Andy and Carmen’s fundraising efforts, he has gone to so much effort to help kids with cancer,” Kids with Cancer Manager Fundraising and Corporate Partnerships Rachele Whelan said.
“100 per cent of the funds raised by Andy will go into our gift account to be passed on to help families doing it tough this Christmas.”
Ellie Busby is a news reporter for Western Sydney Publishing Group. A graduate of the University of Hertfordshire and Western Sydney University, she is a journalism Major. Ellie has worked with Universal Media, The Cova Project and for a range of other organisations. In 2024, Ellie was named Young Writer of the Year at the Mumbrella Publish Awards.