Charity lunch raises £4k for homeless Christmas meal

Amy Foster cooks meals from her home kitchen for homeless people in Bournemouth

Organisers of a lunch that raised thousands of pounds for homeless people have described the event as "magical".

A hundred people attended the fundraiser in Bournemouth to pay for a special Christmas dinner for people living on the streets.

The event was organised by Dorset charity Bee Mission at The Garden Rooms Cafe on Sunday.

Food was cooked and served for the paying guests by some of the people who have been helped by the charity.

More than £4,000 was raised, which will pay for the special lunch on 22 December.

One of the organisers Amy Foster has been cooking meals from her kitchen at home for up to 60 people for four years, delivering them at drop-off points with the help of volunteers.

The fundraiser was held at The Garden Rooms Cafe in Bournemouth

"Sunday was just magical," she said.

"We had an incredible team of volunteers which included some of the guys that are out there living on the streets right now.

"When they heard we were organising this lunch to raise money for them, they wanted to help, and they were amazing, as was everyone that helped make Sunday happen."

Guests also took part in a raffle and brought along Christmas gifts to be distributed on 22 December.

Ms Foster said: "This means we can give everyone that's living on the streets a really wonderful Christmas dinner and it also pays for our food bills for quite a while."

Follow BBC South on Facebook, X, or Instagram. Send your story ideas to [e-mail].