Volunteers putting on Christmas Day lunch for homeless in Kettering

The free meal will be served up at St Edward’s Church hall in Kettering between midday and 2pm on December 25.

It is being co-ordinated with other churches in the town and will be funded by Churches Together.

Denise Mackay is one of the volunteers who will be helping out on the day and she is part of the organising committee.

They are hoping to feed about 100 people and she said: “There’s a lot of people living rough and nobody to share Christmas Day with.

“It’s not just the poor, the lonely and the homeless, it’s anybody who would be quite isolated on that day so we want them to come along and have some fun with us.”

Letters have been sent out to supermarkets asking for donations towards the day, which will also include some entertainment.

And while two professional chefs have offered to cook the food, there are plenty of other ways for people to get involved.

People can give up a few hours of their time on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, or they can make a donation towards the meal.

Denise said they need volunteers to ‘scrape and peel’ the vegetables for lunch, and added: “If anyone wants to volunteer, they can contact Frank Rodgers on 07584 207019.

“And if anyone wants to donate anything that we can wrap up to give to people for Christmas, whether it is a bar of soap or a bag of sweets, they can contact me on 07817 296900.

“There might be other people out there who could donate a bag of potatoes or bag of sprouts.

“If there’s anyone out there who can help, please let us know.”

Help needed on Christmas Eve will include getting the hall ready and preparing the vegetables.

Volunteers helping out from 10am on Christmas Day will be needed to serve, talk to those having lunch and help tidy up afterwards.

And if you know anyone who would like some company on Christmas Day, Denise says tell them to head to St Edward’s Church hall from midday on Christmas Day.