The traditional Free Christmas Day Lunch and celebration, in its 46th year, was held at The Blues Club Gainsborough on 25th December.
It was a bumper year, with 100 people attending starting at 11.00am and continuing until 2.30pm. They certainly did enjoy themselves!
The Christmas Day event meant that people in Gainsborough and the district, who would otherwise have spent Christmas Day on their own, could celebrate Christmas in the company of others whilst enjoying a sumptuous meal, joining in with the singing of carols and the entertainment provided.
In attendance was Roger Patterson, Vice Chairman of West Lindsey District Council, who started off the celebrations, joined in and helped with the festivities – and even washed up!
Organiser Stan Foster said: “I was overwhelmed by the generosity of the numerous local organisations and individuals who donated goods for the event, money to cover costs or gifts for the guests, allowing the event to be provided completely free of charge.
“Special appreciation must go to the volunteers who gave up their valuable time on Christmas Day to transfer guests to and from the event, help in the kitchen, serve the meals and chat with the guests to ensure they enjoyed a truly festive Christmas Day to remember.
“With this kind of support this tradition of ensuring people need not be on their own on Christmas Day will continue, as it has in the past, for many years to come.
“We owe that to the local community.”
The two-course meal itself was provided by Ideal School Meals and superbly cooked by Emma Brighton and Tiegan Rainsforth. They even baked chocolate log, mince pies and shortbread to complete the meal.
Thanks must also go to The Blues Club for hosting the event, to Community Wheels for their support and assistance and Gainsborough Life for helping to promote the event.
Donations were gratefully received from:
- ACIS Group
- Blues Club
- Blues Club Charity Events
- Coveris
- Cliff Bradley and Sons
- Hunters Estate Agents
- Ideal School Meals
- Morrisons
- Morton Village Hall
- Noble Foods
- Rotary Club of Gainsborough
- Unite Union
- Local WI and Church groups – distributed by Val Strawson
And numerous other generous individuals.
A big ‘Thank You’ to you all; without you this important event could not happen.