The Enchanted Gardens Light Trail, which ran during December, took visitors on a 1.5km route of the Town Gardens through illuminated trees and light art sculptures.
Neil Hopkins, chair of South Swindon Parish Council’s leisure, environment and amenities committee, revealed there are discussions about making the show a regular annual event.
The parish council, which organised the trail, chose Great Western Hospital charity Brighter Futures as its beneficiary.
The charity will be putting the money raised into the expansion of the hospital’s urgent and emergency care unit. For every ticket sold, £1 was donated to the charity so it received £24,592 from sales and an additional £4,677.83 from its stall, including raffle tickets at the light trail itself. The money will help the hospital’s Way Forward programme to improve services for Swindon’s growing and ageing population.
Plans for the future include building on a plot of land bought next to the hospital - potentially for a rehabilitation centre.
A Brighter Futures spokeswoman said: “This is the biggest event income we’ve had for a while. With the pandemic, this is a really welcome donation and a happy one. “The Enchanted Gardens was a fantastic event because it came at the end of a challenging year for everybody. “It was a really uncertain so for it to happen made sure the year ended on a great note. “It was a massive privilege to be involved with it because it united the town. It was an event that hadn’t happened before and very positively received. “We thought it was lovely how supportive the town was, so for us to have the opportunity to speak to people who wouldn’t necessary know that we existed was great.
