Salvation Army set to serve up Christmas Day lunch for lonely and vulnerable people

The Salvation Army in Edinburgh is reaching out to lonely and vulnerable people by running a Christmas Day lunch at its Gorgie church.

Majors David and Kathy Betteridge will host a short service before joining their team of volunteers and staff from the local Tesco store to help serve up meals to around 30 people who would otherwise be alone.

Major David said: “A lot of people are lonely but Christmas Day accentuates the fact they’re on their own. We just wanted to provide an opportunity for people to be together to share a Christmas Day and not be isolated.

“Even many of our volunteers on Christmas Day are lonely people but are happy to be working and spending time with other people.

“The food will be provided by Tesco, who help us throughout the year with our food bank, and the chef at Tesco and her family will be coming down to cook Christmas dinner.”