Christmas Day Lunch 2024

St Ives office of Huntingdonshire Volunteer Centre (HVC) with the Free Church organised a fabulous lunch, it was so lovely to see over 50 guests who would otherwise be on their own on Christmas Day sharing a very tasty two course Christmas lunch with coffee, mince pies and mints to follow.  Mike Baker, HVC Chair, started the day off with a welcome to our Mayor Pasco Hussain and Shalom our organist who accompanied us as we all sang Carols before lunch. Rev Nick Witham joined us to say Grace.

The lunch is only possible due to generous donations, the food is donated by The Buckingham Emergency Food Appeal, cash donations from members of the public with drinks supplied by Morrisons and Waitrose.  Pat Jones our marvellous cook and her willing helpers started the lunch preparations on Christmas Eve and they were back early on Christmas Day to complete our wonderful lunch. Mavis, John and Free Church volunteers prepared the hall with decorations, set the tables including crackers which set the Christmas scene for the day.

We had over 40 raffle prizes donated by members of The Free Church, Fifi’s Cakery, Janet Church Interiors, The Golden Lion, West End DIY and our volunteers.  Adams Cook & Pearce with the help of Simon Hepher set up the televisions so we could all watch the King’s Speech before our guests made their way home with a gift bag put together by Michael and his family containing hand made gifts from Star Crafters and homemade jams and chutneys made by Pat our cook plus lots of other goodies.

Our volunteers who gave up their Christmas Day to ensure the lunch went like clockwork, welcoming guests and making sure everyone was comfortable, serving lunch and drinks throughout the lunch.  We also needed volunteer drivers to collect those who would not be able to get to the venue and return them home at the end of the day.  Thank you volunteers, you are amazing and without the help, kindness and support of all people mentioned we would not be able to run this event, we are extremely grateful to you all.

The Christmas Day lunch takes an enormous amount of planning and preparation, all of which falls to the wonderful Kirsty, our St Ives Area Manager, who does a fantastic job, putting in many additional hours in order to ensure that the day runs smoothly and is successful and enjoyable for all who attend. Thank you Kirsty, you do am amazing job!