Emotional reactions as Bucks families get Christmas dinner kits
Around 1,800 people will be fed tomorrow as a result
Buckinghamshire families are still being fed this Christmas, even though usual meals can't be put on.
Restore Hope's Foodlife project normally means events in-person, but instead this week they have been getting Christmas Dinner hampers out to 1,800 people.
Graham Wakeman is from the charity, based near Amersham:
"It's going to mean the world to people.
"We have been ringing people to confirm that they are going to receive one and we have had people just crying on the phone.
"To know that that weight, that burden has been lifted off them.
"For many of the families, it's choices. It's 'Do I buy by children Christmas presents or put the heating on?'"
A different year for the charity
Restore Hope are based on a farm in the Chess Valley and, normally, people are invited down to learn about food and cooking.
This year, however, they haven't been able to and so the farm was turned into a distribution centre.
A whole food programme then happened, with 113,000 gifts and meals sent out since the start of the pandemic.
When the crisis continued into the later part of the year, the Christmas project began.
So fundraising began to make this happen and Bucks Council's Community Board for the area have boosted cash available as well.
All the trimmings plus some help
Families receiving these hampers will get all the ingredients for a Christmas dinner.
That includes a turkey, all the trimmings, Christmas pudding, crackers, books and magazines.
But they will also get a video link to teach them how to cook the dinner, so that they can learn at the same time if needed.
This is part of the philosophy of Restore Hope, who want to equip people to cook for themselves and make healthy choices.
Graham added:
"We have had over 250 volunteers help this year to make this possible, hundreds of people donating to make this possible and so, when we deliver on the doorstep, we don't just leave the box, we knock on the door.
"We chat to the family, find out what's going on with them and really just try and bring hope in our conversation as well as with the food."
Graham said they want to intervene in times of crisis but then after that immediate issue is over, to help them move on.
He added that they want to bring all of these families together once the pandemic is over to have a big feast and celebrate moving forward.