Ladies who set up lunch for the lonely

TESSA Hince, who lives near Banbury, Oxfordshire, and Hayley Ash, of Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire, both 32, have been running the successful Shipston Christmas Community Lunch since 2016.

The community event brings together people who might otherwise be isolated at Christmas, drawing its funds and produce from public donations.

Both had already received invitations to the Queen’s garden party on May 15, and joked they now needed to find different outfits for the wedding.

Miss Hince, left, who is taking along her best friend, said she was ‘absolutely speechless’ and ‘so excited’. ‘It’s giving some coverage to this great cause,’ she added. Miss Ash, right, who is taking her mother, added: ‘It’s crazy – it all feels like a bit of a whirlwind.’