Once again Fr Macmillan is extending a warm invitation to all who would like to attend the parish Christmas lunch.

The lunch is one of the best things we do as a parish, throwing our doors open to welcome all comers to spend Christmas Day around our table. Anyone who wants to come is welcome be they old, sick, homeless, lonely, single parents with their children, whoever would like to spend Christmas Day with the parish team.

We aim to create warm welcoming, cosy and fun filled day with something for everyone.

Jon Wheeler who has coordinated things for several years has hung up his apron and Louise Cooper and Richard Martin are jointly trying to step into his shoes. We have a committee of people helping, some from Jon's team and some new faces.

There are countless ways of getting involved.

The first and most important way to get involved is to come and enjoy lunch. Please also extend the invitation to anyone you know who might be in need of somewhere to spend the day.

We need lots of helpers on the day, driving, manning the door, cooking, serving, washing up etc. So if you can spare some time, even if only an hour, some time on Christmas Day we need to hear from you. All the volunteers on the day will get a chance at some stage to sit down, relax, have a drink and something to eat.

In the days leading up to Christmas we need help making sure we have wrapped presents for all the guests and we need help on Christmas Eve prepping vegetables, decorating the hall and laying tables. So if you can spare some time in the couple of days before Christmas, and especially on Christmas Eve, we need to hear from you.

If you feel up to donating, cooking and carving a turkey or ham to deliver to us on Christmas Eve then that would be great. We are also looking for donations of wine, sherry and port. All the rest of the food we plan to buy ourselves

Finally, if you cannot get involved in any other way then please think about making a donation. The event is self funding - we do not rely on parish funds, and so we need donations. Whatever amount you can afford, large or small, will help go to make Christmas Day special for our guests.

There are forms in the newsletter and in the Bookshop. You can email Louise or Richard at louiseginghamhearts [dot] plus [dot] com or richard [dot] martinspeechlys [dot] com. Please do let us know if you can help. Donations can be left in the bookshop or you can grab one of us outside mass (just let us know why!).

Thanks

Louise and Richard