FESTIVE cheer was brought to diners by a charity using surplus food from shops and supermarkets to provide free meals.

FoodCycle Chester-le-Street opened on Christmas Eve to provide a special seasonal service for people who are lonely at this time of year – and will hold a similar event on New Year’s Eve.

Hot, three-course meals served in the Cornerstones Centre at Chester-le-Street Methodist Church were made entirely from food donated by local shops and supermarkets.

Hannah Roberts, of Foodcycle said: “We had a very successful night with a great turn out of volunteers to help us.

“I was the leader along with three other regular volunteers and we were joined by six other new faces who were interested in doing some volunteering and had heard about the event.

“The extra hands were really appreciated as it gave us time to prepare the meals, sort through all the surplus food we had collected from the shops and still have time to decorate the room with Christmas decorations and extra touches, donated soft drinks, sweets and nibbles.

“Most importantly, it meant that all the volunteers had a bit of extra time to sit down with the guests and join in with the meal and festivities.

“We were really pleased with the turn out of guests, although we really missed many of our regular faces who unfortunately hadn’t been able to come since public buses stop running so early on Christmas eve.

“It had highlighted how isolated many people can be at these times, and in future, we would love to find more volunteers who could help to transport out guests.”

Since opening in March 2016, the team in Chester-le-Street, has served over 700 meals to around 20 guests a week.

It has reclaimed 1.6 tonnes of food and given away over 170 Tupperware boxes to guests to eat meals during the week.

A similar operation in Durham, which launched in 2010, has served more than 4,000 meals. Meals will be served in Chester-le-Street again on Saturday at 6pm.

Foodcycle runs three-course meal sessions every Saturday at Cornerstones, Chester-le-Street, and every Wednesday at Sanctuary 21, Durham from 6pm-8pm. Everyone is welcome to come along. More information can be found at www.foodcycle.org.uk