A party is being held in a Bermondsey pub this weekend to help raise funds for a Christmas Day celebration “with all the trimmings” for the borough’s elderly people.
The fundraising shindig will take place at the Stanley Arms in Southwark Park Road, beginning at 8pm on Saturday December 5.
The festive bash will be in aid of the annual Bermondsey Care for the Elderly Christmas lunch, which provides old people in Southwark with a “real Christmas Day.”
For the last 39 years, a special event has been arranged to give elderly people the chance to celebrate Christmas Day together rather than spending it alone.
Phil Burkett, who is organising the fundraising party with Natasha Nicholls, the daughter of Stanley Arms owners Roy and Julie, said: “It’s just something that comes to my mind when I’m celebrating Christmas at home.
“It comes to three o’clock and you can just imagine people, maybe in the Four Squares Estate, going to their fridge and getting out a microwave meal for themselves, maybe with one cracker.
“It’s so fantastic to know that, for 39 years, Bermondsey Care for the Elderly has been taking people out so they don’t have to be alone at Christmas.”
Phil, who also helps to run Bermondsey Beat, a group that brings music to the north of the borough, added: “I’d also like to say a big thank you to The Old Salt Quay pub, Boutcher Primary School and Professor Alison Leary for their collections and support.”
Coral Newell, who organises the annual Christmas dinner, said: “We put together a complete Christmas Day. They have lunch, entertainment, everything. They love it and are up there dancing by the end of it.” The fundraising party will cost £5 to enter, with more opportunities to support the Christmas lunch fund inside. There will be a raffle, music and entertainment.
You can also donate for Bermondsey Care for the Elderly’s Christmas Day lunch at https://bermondseycares.wordpress.com/