Amazing effort delivers festive meals
Covid’s negative impact has been dramatic, right across society. This included the cancellation of Bath’s Open Christmas.
Until this year, the project has been providing meals to people who were going to be on their own on Christmas Day – the main focus of which was a huge lunch gathering at Kingswood School, with over 200 attending.
There was also the meal for everyone staying at the Julian House hostel in Manvers Street – where rough sleepers could also come in and sit down for a festive lunch.
After hearing about the cancellation, Wessex Water stepped forward to make sure that several hundred people would have some human contact and were able to enjoy a great Christmas lunch.
Home working and other restrictions meant the catering facilities at the company’s award-winning Calverton Down headquarters were operating well below capacity. This meant that it had the capacity to safely produce almost 300 lunches.
These were collected by Bath Open Christmas volunteers and Julian House a couple of days before the big day.
A large team of volunteer drivers then took the meals to the people who would have normally attended the Kingswood event.
Cathy Adcock, from Julian House, helped to make arrangements for the firm’s support. She said: “Wessex Water have been great supporters over many years. This latest initiative is fantastic.
“Space in our main hostel is tight and trying to provide lunch there for 60 people, when our normal capacity is 20, is really tough. Having the meals delivered by Bath Open Christmas in previous years was of huge help.
“The intervention of Wessex Water meant that the staff in the hostel can concentrate on looking after our clients, rather than cooking food. This can be an emotion
ally tough time of year for people who have no proper home and by providing something close to a relaxing Christmas Day is quite a lift for them.”
Julian House has been providing extra bed spaces since midNovember so that no one has to sleep rough during the coldest months of the year. At the same time, it has had to carry on its support work in ways that are Covid safe. Some of the Wessex Water meals were also served at the other temporary accommodation sites.
Roger Barnard, one of the organisers of Bath Open Christmas, said: “Wessex Water have been fantastic in catering for those whom we usually support, as have the Compassionate Community and 3SG in working with us to generate the list of people to receive them.
“Together with donations from the Thoughtful Bakery and local supermarkets including Bookers, Sainsbury’s, the Co-op and Morrisons, our amazing volunteer drivers have been able to deliver a little extra Christmas cheer in person to those otherwise alone and vulnerable around B&NES.
“In these uncertain times it’s heartening to know that people’s humanity and generosity in caring for others doesn’t waver.”