The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Family plans festive fare for the needy
Akind-hearted Montrose businesswoman and her three daughters are preparing and delivering Christmas dinners for the elderly and lonely in their community tomorrow.
For a second year, Danielle Ormond, director of Unicorn Cleaning Services, and her daughters Elsie, 3, Lola, 9, and Yvie, 11, are reaching out to 22 local people who would otherwise spend Christmas Day alone.
The family smashed its original £350 fundraising target in November and the total amount raised now stands at £725.
Danielle, 39, loves to cook and last Christmas she ran a soup kitchen from her Montrose shop.
This year, she and her girls will prepare leek and potato soup, a full turkey dinner with gravy and bread sauce as well as mini desserts, Christmas pudding, cheesecake and a mince pie.
Then they will head out to deliver the meals between noon and 2pm, with everyone allocated a time slot.
Danielle said: “I am a single parent. The girls’ dad and I were together for 14 years and we split up just before Covid.
“So, last Christmas was the first the girls had been on their own. I really wanted to do something that was going to make a difference to them. I was just trying to keep their mind off the fact he wouldn’t be here.
“We ran a soup kitchen for about 20 people, but it was difficult because we were so restricted and were about to go back into lockdown.
“I felt the girls didn’t get the full effect of what they were trying to achieve so I sat down and spoke to them again this year and told them I was thinking of doing a dinner for people.”
Danielle said a lot of customers who come to her laundry shop are older people who live alone and many do not have family close by.
She went on: “So I thought ‘let’s help people who would like a meal – and we’ll bring it to them.’”
Danielle has received donations of microwavable containers from Hillside Hotel in Montrose. This means people can reheat their meals if required once they have been delivered.
“The girls are excited about doing it,” she said.
“We are also planning on having them pull a cracker at the door with everyone as that’s something someone on their own would miss out on.
“My kids take it for granted that because I can cook they have beef and chicken and gammon for Sunday dinner most weeks – but lots of kids don’t have that. The older two have started to realise that.”
She added: “Their school, Ferryden Primary, got in touch as the teachers normally put money together and donate to a charity instead of giving presents and cards.
“Because the girls have told them about what we’re doing, this year they donated to us.”