‘Join us for a cracking community Christmas’

GENEROUS community centre volunteers will throw open their doors for a second year in a bid to keep lonely people company on Christmas Day.

The Maes-y-Coed Community Centre in Cardiff will be open on December 25.

Volunteers are inviting elderly people, single parents and anybody who might otherwise be spending Christmas alone to come along.

The centre is just off Maes-y-Coed Road near the Allied Bakeries site and is run by the Jubilee Community Trust.

Organiser Sophey Warmeant said: “We have a lot of elderly people coming in, as well as single mums and dads, and we wanted to do something a bit different for them.

“It’s for those who would otherwise be lonely on Christmas Day and it is for anybody and everybody. We want to ensure nobody in the community is on their own on the day.”

Last year around 60 people visited Maes-y-Coed for Christmas, and organisers expect the same number of people or more to attend this year.

Sophey added: “We have also had a lot of people volunteering to help out with it which will help us out in the long run.

“We hope there will be a good turnout at Christmas but that it’s not too overwhelming.”

Trustee Darren Smart, 48, is credited with the idea for the event.

He said the centre had gained the support of the Co-operative supermarket, who would be providing hot food for their visitors on the day. There will also be musical entertainment provided by Cardiff Ukulele Nights.

Darren said: “What we found last year was that a few people who came to volunteer actually didn’t have anyone either, but they preferred to come down and help out rather than sit as a guest.

“It’s great we’ve got support from the Co-op now. They said they will be giving us a load of soup, sherry, mulled wine and some Christmassy sweets and chocolates.”

The event will run from 3pm to 6pm on December 25. Anyone wishing to attend is asked to call 02920 626973 in advance so organisers can confirm numbers.