A FREE Christmas dinner for people who will be alone during the festive season will be running again this year. 

The event is organised by locals Chantelle Sear and her mother-in-law Nicola Doble and will be held at Balliol Hall on Church Road in West Huntspill on 21 December. 

Doors will open at 1pm, and locals can sit down with a complimentary Christmas dinner, as well as pudding, tea and biscuits, and a round of bingo at the end, with the event finishing at 4pm.  

The organisers have also offered help with transportation for those who will struggle to reach the location.  

This is the third year in a row that the dinner, which is organised by locals in West Huntspill, will be held after two successful events in previous years. 

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Charlotte said the meal helps people make lasting friendships. 

“We’ve actually got a lot of people returning - people who came the first time and have come every year since,” she said.  

“It's always really positive and it's really nice because not only do they have someone to sit and have dinner with, but they also end up making friendships as well.  

“That’s what we’re aiming to do. We want to get people together so they don’t feel alone.” 

This year, the event is also aimed at over 67s struggling because of recent cuts to government support, with anyone from around Somerset invited. 

Charlotte first had the idea to put on the event when she was shopping for some last-minute goods in the run up to Christmas two years ago.  

“We were in the partywear aisle and there was a gentleman there browsing the paper plates,” she said. 

“He stopped to ask me which the better ones were, and I asked him if he was having a party.” 

The man told Charlotte he wasn’t having a party and was in fact going to spend the holiday season alone.  

The only reason he was buying paper plates was to avoid having to wash up after his Christmas dinner.  

“It was heartbreaking to know that somebody was going to be on their own on Christmas day,” Charlotte said.  

"I went back and told my mother-in-law about it, and then we thought maybe he’s not the only one in the area that’s going to be alone, maybe there are more people that are in the exact same situation. We should do something.” 

Before long, they’d hired Balliol Hall and were putting on the event.  

Charlotte said they funded the first year of the event purely through the generosity of friends and family. 

 “The first couple of years we didn’t try and fundraise - we literally begged and borrowed from family, friends and everything else - but times are obviously getting tougher for everybody,” she said. 

“We’re not just reaching out to people who are alone this year, we're reaching out to over 67s because of all the cuts [to winter fuel payments] that have been going on recently." 

Since then the event has been supported by donations from locals, with a GoFundMe page open for people to lend their support.  

Charlotte said that this year, the event has been almost entirely funded by one very generous contribution. 

“A lady rang me personally and said she was on her own, but although she couldn’t make it to the lunch herself, she said she wanted to donate.   

“She ended up donating a substantial amount because she appreciated what we are doing. So that pretty much paid for the whole event this year.” 

Over the years the event has been running, the number of people attending has risen, from 35 in the first year to 53 in the second.  

This year, Charlotte is hoping even more will turn up. For more information you can contact the organisers on 07387 292546 or christmaslunch2022@yahoo.com.