Charity providing Christmas Day dinner deliveries

Volunteers from IP17 GNS in Saxmundham have been preparing Christmas dinners for those who will find themselves alone this year

Christmas dinners will be delivered this year as part of a community scheme to reach those who find themselves on their own.

Volunteers from the IP17 Good Neighbour Scheme in Saxmundham, Suffolk, have been pre-cooking traditional festive meals which can then be defrosted and heated up on the day.

This is the first time the Christmas dinners have been prepared and delivered from the charity's new base at The Gannon Rooms in the town.

The charity, which focuses on tackling food poverty and loneliness, has received orders for about 80 meals set to be delivered on Christmas Day morning by volunteers dressed in elf costumes.

The charity said it was primarily focused on food poverty and loneliness, but offered a range of group activities and practical support

Michelle Frost, service manager at IP17 GNS, said: "This will be the first year we have prepared the meals and delivered them from our new base.

"We cook a heat-at-home hearty Christmas meal including pudding, sides and added treats and on Christmas morning a cheery volunteer will deliver it to people.

"On the day we will be playing Christmas music and little elves will be very busy around here so there will be a lovely atmosphere.

"We also have emergency food parcel boxes so if people are really struggling we are able to offer those or refer people on to the foodbank itself."

The charity was founded during the first Covid lockdown to help people in Saxmundham, Kelsale and Benhall, but it now offers a wider range of support and activities.

It also provides food and household essentials at subsidised prices to residents who are struggling to pay bills, through its social supermarket scheme, which opens on Tuesday mornings.