KILWINNING’S Christmas Lights Switch On is set for Saturday, November 19 in the town’s Main Street.

Santa will be in his grotto from 2pm, organised as ever by the Kilwinning Academy Parent Council. The main event will start at 3.30 pm with entertainment on the main stage including local artists Kenneth Bowman, Caitlin Carruthers, Courtney Reid, Emma Sarginson and Josh Ghorst, with others remaining to confirm. The final line-up will be confirmed on the organisation’s Facebook page.

There will also be children’s rides in Main Street as well as craft stalls in the Erskine Hall. The Switch On itself will be at 5.30pm.

Betty Kilpatrick, who was awarded the British Empire Medal in the New Year Honours List and received her honour at a special ceremony in the town’s Erskine Church in late October, was the overwhelming choice to switch on the Kilwinning Christmas Lights this year. Betty is well known in the town, and when organisers Promoting Kilwinning surveyed members of the local community on who they wanted to perform the switch-on, they all said she should be the one to switch on the Christmas lights.

Betty’s family confirmed that she was “thrilled” at being chosen.

Betty was born in December 1925 in Kilwinning into a family of seven.

She first attended Erskine Church Sunday School when she was five years old and still attends worship today at 90. She was a Sunday school teacher at the Love Memorial Hall in Corsehill, as an outreach of the Erskine Church. She volunteered for the Red Cross between 1962 and 2012, during which time she did First Aid work. She also volunteered nursing work in the hospital in the early years, as well as setting up a cadet unit for children aged 11 to 16 years and teaching them First Aid.

She took the cadets to Switzerland and did weekend training sessions at the Red Cross Centre in Erskine Hospital. She has also taken adults and children with disabilities on trips to Blackpool.

She was a school auxiliary at Abbey Primary School and many people remember her from her time at the school. She has volunteered in the Kilwinning tower when it is open to the public, and is a member of the KitKat Club and Corsehill Retired Club.

It was in recognition of this long record of voluntary work that she was honoured by the Queen.

Previous switch-ons have been performed by Bridge Church pastors Bernie and Nan McLaughlin, newsreader Shereen Nanjiani, former manager of Kilmarnock FC Bobby Williamson, and musician Davie Scaife. Last year’s was in danger of being cancelled due to a lack of funds for new lights but a fundraising effort by residents saved the day.