A festive man from Plymstock handcrafted a fifteen foot tall “Rudolph the Reindeer” in his front yard out of sheets of plywood.
Phil Lamerton, who installed the giant Christmas display in his front garden on Randwick Road, took inspiration from Pinterest where he first saw the idea and immediately wanted to create something of this size.
The 62-year-old bought the materials for the “Ruldoph Project” in March, he started building it in November and finished on December 4.
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Not only is the fifteen foot tall rudolph awe-inspiring for neighbors of Plymstock to see, with Phil having “it all cut out, painted and made”, but all to benefit a local charity, St Luke’s Hospice, which is personal to him.
Phil, who is also a bus driver for children with learning disabilities, said since the installation of the handmade display he had only had positive reviews about it, other than a neighbor who joked that he was not tall enough.
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Phil told PlymouthLive: “I take a lot of ideas from Pinterest and woodworking is my thing because it’s what I do, so I look at Pintrest quite often for ideas and it happened.
“It was mostly made and installed in America, and they have a lot more space than we do, so it’s only fitting that they have big things.
“I reached out to a guy on Pinterest and he gave me some advice on what to do and off we went.
He added, “I actually called him during construction for advice on painting, but he ended up giving me some other advice as well.
“He even survived the recent storms in Plymouth.”
(Image: Matt Gilley / PlymouthLive)
While building the gigantic Rudolph, Phil used his nephew’s garage to build it and had the help of his granddaughter who helped the project come to life.
The reindeer is “impressive” to see day and night, it lights up in different colors, bringing Christmas joy to the streets.
Phil said: “The start of the project of this size started with my granddaughter and I projecting a piece of A4 paper onto eight sheets of four ply. We projected it on the board and she gave me a hand so that was nice.
“There were only positive comments, everyone including the neighbors are bringing their grandchildren to take a look and everything has gone very well.
“A neighbor came over and said ‘I have a complaint’ so I said ‘What is this?’ and he said “It’s not big enough”, so it was a lot of fun.
“I had sponsors from five or six different companies in Plymouth who helped me with the hardware involved, like metalwork and cables, and it became a project called ‘Project Rudolph’.
Phil added, “There have also been generous donations of materials which have been wonderful.”
All of this hard work has helped St Luke’s Hospice raise funds for the local charity which has supported Phil’s friends and family in the past.
He told us: “I have had a personal experience with St Luke’s Hospice having lost friends and family members, I have lost five close family members since 2000 and we have had the experience of go through the association and they are fantastic with the support.
“So it’s a brilliant cause, and having a personal relationship with them is why I chose this charity.
There is a QR code on the front of the house directing people to St Luke’s Hospice’s Just Giving fundraiser.
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