The best Christmas in Christchurch
Our famous Christmas Lunch is Christchurch’s biggest mass celebration of giving on Christmas Day.
It means a lot to us at the City Mission to host it, it means a lot to the volunteers and others who support us to make it happen, and we know it means an awful lot to the hundreds of people who come to be treated as special on this wonderful day.
Children who faced a Christmas without presents will get a little gift. Adults with empty cupboards will have a big delicious meal.
The underlying message of the City Mission Christmas Lunch is this is about people caring for others who need care. In one meal it sums up so much of what the Mission stands for.
The numbers around the event are staggering. Our lunch is held in a large marquee in the grounds of Christchurch East School.
Three hundred volunteers will serve more than 1000 guests who will eat 100 legs of lamb, 80 hams, 150kg of potatoes, 100 pavlovas and 80kg of fresh berries.
This year’s lunch is also extra special because it is going to be the most environmentally sustainable ever.
The project to take plastic and waste out of the lunch has been led by our business support and volunteer coordinator Bonnie Houston-Edwards.
Bonnie has found support from companies Ashbec and Total Waste Solutions to let us use compostable plates, cups and cutlery and a safe place to take them and food scraps. We’ll have a special volunteer team just for this.
For decorations, Christ’s College students are going to help us put together brightly coloured, handmade bunting created from old clothes destined for the rubbish tip.
Bonnie says there’s an extra bonus with the bunting. Sure it’s old fashioned, but it brings a lovely handmade, homely, warm touch to a room and the event. It feels real.