Melksham’s free festive feast!

CHRISTMAS is just two weeks away and Core Church will soon be warming up the oven for its festive feast at Melksham Assembly Hall.

All are welcome at the feast and the church is still on the lookout for volunteers and guests for the big community lunch. The annual Christmas celebration will take place from 11am on Christmas Day, Friday 25th December.

There will be carols and refreshments in the morning followed by a free traditional  turkey or vegetarian Christmas dinner at 1pm. There will time to relax and enjoy the day afterwards, and guests are welcome to attend for part or all of the day. If you need picking up or dropping off, free transport can be arranged.

There is no charge but donations are welcome and the organisers ask that you notify them in advance so they cook enough food.

To book your place at the dinner, call or text organiser Gavin Owen on 07788 446567, or pass on your contact details to Newman’s Butchers on Church Street, Melksham Town Hall, or Melksham Assembly Hall.

Just as the number of guests has increased over the years, so has the number of offers of help, and there are still ways you can get involved.

Gavin said, “We set up the Assembly Hall on Christmas Eve between 10.00am and midday. It’s a good opportunity for people to come along who can’t be there on Christmas Day but still want to help out. Furniture needs to be arranged, tables need to be covered, places laid and all with the same care you would take at home.

“In terms of Christmas Day itself, what we’re primarily looking for is people who would like to join us for the whole day and have their Christmas dinner with us.

“It’s not waiters and waitresses we want, but guests who will take on the responsibility of serving the other people at their table. Our aim is to create the atmosphere of a big family meal, not a restaurant.”

There are two other ways that people can help on the day – transport and clearing up. Gavin said, “We offer transport to anyone who needs help getting to the Assembly Hall. For some years now Leszan Travel have kindly helped out by providing a minibus but we usually need three or four cars on top of that.

“The only restrictions are that anyone offering to drive needs to have a CRB or DBS certificate that we can see and they need to be able to collect their passengers in time to have them at the Assembly Hall for 11.00am.

“Clearing up on the other hand is much more straight forward. We start the mammoth task of washing-up at about 3.30pm and begin to pack away the hall about an hour later so that we’re finished by about 5.30pm.”

And for those people who can’t be there in person there are still other ways to contribute. Gavin reports that every year people in Melksham ask if they can donate to the Christmas Dinner.

Gavin said, “Some people want to make a financial donation whilst others would like to buy something. If they get in touch, we can let them know how to give and what we need.”

If you would like to help call or text Gavin on 07788 446567. For more information, visit the website at www.melksham.christmas