A charity has helped spread the festive cheer by preparing 100 Christmas dinners for rough sleepers and those in temporary or short-term accommodation in Ipswich.
Anglia Care Trust, which provides rough sleeper and emergency accommodation support in Suffolk's county town, prepared and cooked the meals and desserts for those staying in emergency accommodation beds.
The meals came with all the trimmings – from Yorkshire puddings to roasties with lashings of gravy – alongside clear instructions on how to safely reheat.
They were all prepared by staff and fellow service users at the charity, who worked around the clock to peel the vegetables and carefully wrap each pig in their blanket.
Jane Simpson, chief executive of the charity, said: “Our team have been just as busy as the elves in the North Pole in the run up to Christmas, lovingly preparing these nutritious meals for those in need.
“We had initially only planned to cook for the 30 people staying in our own emergency accommodation beds – although we had so many donations we were able to make more than triple that.
“That meant we were able to spread the Christmas joy even further, with stops including those housed at Armitage Place, supported by Ipswich Borough Council.
“My thanks go to our amazing service user engagement team and colleagues from across the organisation for putting on a day to remember.”
Feedback from those to receive a meal included one person who said it was the "best full plate of food I've had in ages", while another said: "The dinner was lovely, thank you all."
As well as providing beds to rough sleepers, Anglia Care Trust is the largest independent charity provider of housing to Ipswich Borough Council, with more than 200 beds available to those in need.
