Support the Chancellor’s Christmas Dinner project
18 Dec 2018
There's only one week to go until the Christmas Dinner, an annual project founded by our Chancellor Lemn Sissay MBE to provide Christmas celebrations for care leavers aged between 18 and 25
It has one aim – to provide a spectacular Christmas Day for young care leavers who have recently left the care system who would otherwise be alone.
Many care leavers spend Christmas on their own in flats, B&Bs, hostels, sofa surfing or even living on the streets. It can be a day to dread and then try to forget.
The Christmas Dinner project aims to change this and make fantastic Christmas memories to cherish forever.
In 2013 the first Christmas dinner was held in Manchester. In 2014 it was held in Manchester and Hackney and extended to Leeds in 2015. This year there are an incredible 17 dinners taking place across the UK. This means that over 800 care leavers will be having an amazing Christmas Day that they will remember forever.
Here's what some guests said last year:
"I was so glad I was put forward for this because, to be fair, I'd probably be sitting on my couch, crying at home."
"I've not celebrated Christmas since 2013. This has made it possible for me to like Christmas again."
"There's no worry about being judged because of our circumstances because other people have been through the same things we've been through."
The Christmas Dinner project is looking to raise money to support the Christmas Dinners; this year and in years to come. This can be done at:
Anyone can get involved, donate, fundraise and raise awareness of the fund on social media.
Coop Members can also make The Lemn Sissay Foundation part of their local community fund:
All support shows generosity and solidarity with young care leavers, helping to end loneliness and isolation, raise confidence and show care leavers that they are valued and noticed by the community.
You can watch a BBC clip of last year's Christmas Dinner:
Chancellor Lemn Sissay also appeared on BBC's Songs of Praise to talk about this year's event, you can watch the programme on BBC iPlayer.