ORGANISATIONS in the Okehampton area are doing their bit to ensure people are not neglected or feeling alone during the festive season.

The team at the Co-op in Okehampton are working to ensure local people can avoid loneliness on Christmas Day.

Jackie and Kirsty Reynolds from the store are organising an ‘Eat, Drink and Be Together’ Christmas Day lunch and tea to take place at Fairplace Church Hall on December 25. The event is for people who would otherwise be spending their Christmas Day alone and is not-for-profit.

Kirsty Reynolds said: ‘The Co-op’s charity this year is British Red Cross to combating loneliness, so it’s tied in to the store’s charity.

‘We have had so much support locally from the store who have donated bits and pieces and raffle prizes to so many other people. The Lions have donated £200, Okehampton United Charity has donated £200 — the cheese factory in North Tawton has donated some cheese for the day.’

‘We have a Facebook page and we have had lots of people say they want to donate some food or give time on Christmas Eve to peel potatoes or help us prepare. So it is very local and very well supported.’

With doors opening from noon, lunch will be served from 12.30pm to 1pm, with a buffet tea to folllow. The pair are looking to cater for around 60 people, costing £10 per head to cover the costs of the day. If they receive enough donations before the event to cover costs, those who go along will receive a refund. Carers or drivers attending on the day can eat for free.

The team at Okehampton Foodbank will be on hand to help out families struggling to put food on the table this festive season. Every Friday morning, volunteers at Okehampton Baptist Church give out food parcels to people struggling to put food on the table.

The organisation rose to prominence following the mass redundancies at Polestar and Robert Wiseman Dairies in 2011, and the number of parcels being handed out each week rose to over 20.

In the last year or so the number of people and families relying on the foodbank has dropped massively to only around three or four parcels being handed out each week. The drop in need for the foodbank has been so dramatic, the organisation stopped running its Tuesday sessions earlier this year.

Okehampton Foodbank chairman Dermot Seale said that the organisation would be ready to help anyone in need this festive season. To find out more call into Okehampton Baptist Church on Friday mornings between 10am and noon.

Volunteers at the branch of Samaritans that serves Okehampton will be on duty across all of Christmas and New Year for anyone who needs someone to listen.

Helen Crossfield, director of Exeter, Mid and East Devon branch of Samaritans, said: ‘We know that Christmas isn’t a happy time for everyone. Some people – particularly those on their own, and especially men – find the festive season very difficult.

‘Even when surrounded by family and friends, people still feel isolated and worried. These feelings can be heightened by others being happy.’

Samaritans volunteers will be available around the clock for anyone who needs to talk, in confidence, about whatever is causing them distress. That applies on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day, as on every other day of the year.

Over Christmas someone in the UK contacts Samaritans every six seconds and over the last festive period the charity responded to almost 200,000 contacts nationwide.

This year, during November alone, the Exeter, Mid and East Devon Samaritans had 1,800 telephone calls from people in distress.

Helen Crossfield said: ‘It may be your first Christmas without your children because of a separation. Or you may be bereaved, or struggling with redundancy, or debt, your health, or relationships or family issues.

‘It’s OK not to have a good time. No one needs to put on a brave face. People can talk to us by phone, on email or face to face.’

The contact details for Samaritans this Christmas are:

116 123 this number is free to call and will not appear on a telephone bill; 07725 909090 for SMS texts; [email protected] by email; www.samaritans.org/exeter for details of the branch.

To find out more about the ‘Eat, Drink and Be Together’ lunch call Kirsty on 01837 54338. To see the Facebook page, search for ‘Information page for people on there own this Christmas take 2’.