Meet Britain’s most festive man, who decorates his home with 10,000 decorations – which take two WEEKS to put up and take down.
Geoff Stonebanks, 71, spends a week every Christmas adorning his home in Seaford, East Sussex with 40 crates worth of decorations.
He then has to devote another seven days in the first week of January to taking it all down and storing it away – ready for next December.
Geoff estimates that he owns around 2,500 individual baubles – but has lost count of the number of other festive trinkets he keeps under his roof.
His collection was previously estimated at around 10,000.
Geoff’s haul has been amassed over several decades and includes decorations he has bought on various holidays as well as ones handed down through his family.
Some of his decorations date back to the 1930s and one of his trees was bought from the beloved but now defunct high street store Woolworths.
In past Decembers, he has had no less than 40 trees in his home – varying in size from seven feet to 18 inches. He has seven this year.
Geoff has been obsessed with Christmas ever since he was a child and was tasked with decorating his parents’ pub for the festive season.
When he left home, he started gathering his own decorations – and when his parents retired he inherited the ones they had gathered over the years.
His collection has only grown since then.
Geoff said: “My parents used to open the pub every Christmas Day so people who were on their own had somewhere to go.
“So decorating was always a big thing.
“As a child, I got involved and started helping out. And then my mum eventually realised she could just leave me to do it myself.”
For Geoff, what is most special about his collection is the memories each piece holds.
He said: “Christmas is about people and memories. And each year, when I get the decorations out to sort through and decide where I’m putting them, I remember where I got each piece.
“Some have been given to me by people who are special to me, others I bought on a holiday I enjoyed.
“So all those memories come flooding back each year.”
Although Geoff’s home is prepared for a mass celebration, he will be enjoying a quiet Christmas this year with his 97-year-old mother, his partner Mark, and their rescue dog Chester.
On New Year’s Eve, he will start the week-long process of taking the decorations down.
Geoff said: “I love Christmas and I have all the decorations up by December 1, but even I must admit I get tired of them by the end of the month.
“So I’ll start taking them down – which takes a week – and then pack them away ready for next year.”
You can find out more about Geoff’s Christmas obsession on his website: http://www.geoffschristmas.co.uk/
