Mum’s dinner... for 70 strangers
A THOUGHTFUL single mum who dreaded spending Christmas Day alone organised a special dinner – for 70 strangers.
Taylor Barnes, 21, dreaded Christmas as a child and her heart sank every time she heard festive songs on the radio.
Growing up in the care system, she felt left out of the celebrations, and last year faced spending December 25 alone with just her young daughter, Harper.
But she was inspired to organise a massive dinner for 60 people feeling equally lonely, and saw the joy it brought them.
Yesterday Taylor, who is six months pregnant with her second child, pulled out the stops and recruited Scottish comedian Hardeep Singh Kohli as her head chef for the day.They spent Christmas Eve preparing a three-course meal for 70 guests, including elderly widowers, single parents, struggling families and people living in a homeless shelter.
And on Christmas Day everyone sat down at Gibbs Hill Community Centre, in Greenock, Inverclyde, to pull crackers, tell jokes, and eat a threecourse meal.
Taylor said: “We did the prep on Christmas Eve, but it was a bit stressful trying to make sure everything was OK.
“Everybody got presents – this year I went to Boots, and spent £10 per person.
“There was a threefor-two offer on so I got presents for families, gift sets, a selection box and candy canes. Some families this year were quite stuck – that’s just the way life is.”