A decade of cooking Christmas dinner for people on their own

A church is celebrating its 10th year of hosting a Christmas Day event for those spending it alone.

Company at Christmas is organised by St Fagan's church in Aberdare, Rhondda Cynon Taf, for people with nowhere else to go.

They offer a Christmas dinner, entertainment and transportation - all free of charge as a result of donations and gifting.

Carolyn Walton, 63, who helps organise, said she attended the first event with her mother.

"We loved it so much, my late mum and I had no where else to go so we thought we would give it a go. After that, I volunteered and have come every year," she said.

The event began in 2015, after a man asked the church if anyone was able to make him dinner.

"We thought, well if he is asking, there are bound to be others spending the day alone," Carolyn said.

The first event was in the church hall but as numbers have grown over the years, they have moved to the local school, St John Baptist Church in Wales High School.

Gordon Evans, 64, lives in Cwmaman and came to the event for the first time in 2023, and will be attending again this Christmas Day.

"I didn't know it existed, someone told me about it and I thought shall I sleep through another Christmas day alone or shall I give it a try?" he said.

Gordon said he was "quite nervous" at first.

"For two reasons, going alone and meeting strangers and also the shame of being alone on Christmas day, you feel odd about it," he said, confessing he considered abandoning the plan until he reached the car park.

"One of the volunteers was directing cars and was so kind to me I decided to go in," he said.

Once in the school Gordon said it "immediately became OK" and he sat by people and began chatting.

"By the end of the day, it became overwhelmingly good," he said.

In 2015, Company at Christmas catered for 40 people - and this year, they are putting on dinners for 130.

They have about 50 or 60 volunteers including 15 drivers, with a local minibus company providing transportation.

"Every attendee will get a two-course dinner, a present that has been wrapped by the school children and a bag full of pantry goods to take home," Carolyn said.

Volunteer Sarah Kochalski said it was a nice way of spending the day with her family.

"My son plays the piano in the background, playing all sorts of Christmas music and me and my daughter help greet people and serve food," she said.

Sarah said both of her children were pupils at the school and it was a lovely way of "giving back".

Peta Maidman spends her Christmas day volunteering in the kitchen, and said it was "faith in action", and not just "people in a building on a Sunday".

"Every year I cry, the first year was a wing on a prayer, we didn't have a clue what we were doing," she said.

Peta said it was amazing to see the event grow.

"It is sad in one way that so many people find themselves in that situation but we are blessed that we can provide that little respite on Christmas Day for anybody who needs it," she said.

Angela Clark from Aberdare has also been helping out since the event started.

"Myself and my husband help cook and serve all the food, I've even got myself a food hygiene certificate," she said.

She said as her children had other plans on Christmas Day, her and her husband were happy to help out.

Angela said the feedback from those who attend the event was it was "the best Christmas they ever had".

"People have said to me 'if I didn't come here [to the event], I wouldn't speak to a soul or see anyone on Christmas day."

"We've had a one-year-old and a 101-year-old on the same table, it's a real snapshot of life," she said.