This Christmas sees the eleventh annual Christmas Day Dinner staged by the River of Life Church, by Dumfries Railway Station. Volunteers from the congregation and friends are once again inviting people who would be alone for Christmas, but would like to spend it with others, to a Christmas Day Dinner. There’s no charge for the meal, although people are free to donate if they wish, but there’s absolutely no expectation to do so. Professional hotel and restaurant chef, Eddie Vallance, will prepare the meal, along with his team of willing helpers.
Mark Smith, Senior Pastor at the Church says; “If there’s one thing about this time of year, it’s that we take time to be with family and friends. For some people though, that’s not easy – either because of work or personal circumstances. Family distances, difficulties, bereavement, finance or a million other reasons, mean that people find themselves alone over Christmas. Here at River of Life, we have an open door for absolutely anyone to come to the event, or even to join our team of enthusiastic volunteers on the day. We recently realised that this will be our eleventh year hosting a special meal on Christmas Day. It’s always amazing to see the difference it makes to people for whom Christmas would otherwise be an painfully lonely ordeal.
“We have a service from 11am – 12noon on Christmas Day too, and everyone is welcome to come to that, as well. I’d like to say a big ‘thank you to everyone who has contributed of the past ten Christmases and, with their help, we hope to make the eleventh the best ever!”
