A KIND-HEARTED mother and daughter from Okehampton will once again be spending Christmas Day preparing a festive meal for people on their own at Christmas.

This will be the fourth successive year that Kirsty Reynolds and her mum Jackie will be serving up a massive spread at Fairplace Church Hall on December 25 for anyone who would like to come along.

They first had the idea for the community Christmas dinner back in 2014 when the Co-op in Okehampton, where they both work, was supporting a British Red Cross appeal to combat loneliness.

‘We have quite a lot of people at Christmas who come into the Co-op saying they are on their own at Christmas and my mum was chatting with a colleague about it and came up with the idea of putting on a Christmas lunch,’ said Kirsty.

‘We decided it would tie in with our charity for that year. We were just going to see how it went but people liked it and now four years later we are still doing it.

‘It is just us who do the cooking, although we buy some puddings and we rope in family members to peel the potatoes and things. We do the majority of preparation at home now, the night before.’

Also involved is Kirsty’s seven-year-old daughter.

’I’m a single mum and this will be the third year my daughter has come along,’ she said. ‘It is nice for her to see that it isn’t just about presents, it is about people being together at Christmas.’

She said she got a lot out of the fact that the event was really appreciated by people.

‘They can’t believe that we give up our Christmas for other people and a lot of them are so thankful for it.

‘We fundraise throughout the year for it, with coffee mornings, quizzes and bingo nights.’

This year’s Christmas dinner runs from 12 noon until 4pm at the church hall, with homemade Christmas cake and all the trimmings. Places need to be booked in advance, by calling Kirsty on 01837 54338.

All are welcome at a fundraising quiz night being held on Friday, December 7, starting 8pm at the Okehampton Conservative Club in Kempley Road.