Invercargill deputy mayor highlights need for Community Christmas Lunch

Monday, 16 December 2019

Invercargill deputy Toni Biddle is looking for volunteers to help with this year's Community Christmas Lunch.

About 180 invitations have been sent out for this year's Community Christmas Lunch which is in place to provide a Christmas Day celebration for those in Invercargill who otherwise might not have the opportunity.

Linzi Turner and deputy mayor Toni Biddle are organising this year's lunch.

They have worked with 12 different social agencies to send out 180 invitations to people who they believed would otherwise not be in the position to be involved in a Christmas Day lunch celebration.

Invercargill Licensing Trust, Southern Institute of Technology, Great South, and SBS have all contributed financially to help put the lunch on, Biddle said.

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Various churches were also involved by helping prepare the lunch, while they have taken donations from the public to provide gifts for the children.

If people would like to donate gifts or other food items, which can be refrigerated, they can be dropped off to the Invercargill City Council, Biddle said.

'There is obviously still a need for [the lunch] so we want to make sure it continues,' she said.

At this stage, they have 10 volunteers locked in to help on the day but Biddle said they would like 30 in total.

A meeting will be held at the Invercargill Bridge Club at 6pm on Tuesday night for anyone who was available and keen to volunteer on Christmas Day.

The lunch has previously been held at the Scottish Hall but will this year be held at the Bridge Club.

Mayor Sir Tim Shadbolt has also traditionally been the face of the lunch but Biddle said he stepped aside this year to spend time with his own family.

Meanwhile, Invercargill will be stacked with Christmas activities in the lead up to the big day.

It starts on Wednesday night with the YMCA's annual Carols by Candlelight at Queens Park, which will run from 7pm to 8.30pm

For those aged 18 and over street parties will be held at Leet and Don Streets on Friday night.

Massav Productions' Christmas in the Park event will be held from 3pm to 9pm on Saturday at Queens Park, while on Sunday ILT Stadium Southland will host its annual Christmas Variety Show.

ILT Stadium Southland general manager Nigel Skelt said tickets for the show have been in steady demand, and as a result they had now also opened the Tim Shadbolt stand for the event.

The cast has been rehearsing for over the past two months, with the show involving about 200 dancers and up to 40 performing artists, Skelt said.