Waitrose helps to provide Christmas lunch for those in need

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The Waitrose branches in Jersey will be helping to provide Christmas lunch for elderly, homeless and vulnerable people in their local community.

This year the supermarket has given St Saviour, St Helier and Red Houses branches £1,500 each to donate to Jersey causes, helping isolated people in the island receive food and gifts at Christmas who might have otherwise gone without.

St Saviour branch will be providing food and support to the ‘Christmas Day with the Salvation Army’ event which is taking place at St. Clement’s parish hall, Red Houses branch will be providing a Christmas lunch for the parishioners of St Brelade’s Church whilst the St Helier branch are funding the Christmas day party for Jersey’s Women’s Refuge.

As well as these donations, Waitrose Partners are volunteering to plan and attend the events, using hours from the Partner Volunteering scheme whilst being fully paid by Waitrose.

Waitrose is supporting just under 500 charitable events across the country, with nearly 40,000 people set to benefit from the campaign. The supermarket is donating money towards food and other resources for the lunches.

Sammy Price, Deputy Manager from the Jersey Women's Refuge is delighted with the financial support from Waitrose: “The Refuge will be providing Christmas day festivities, including a full Christmas lunch for all the current residents with other clients also being invited to attend. The scheme run by Waitrose, is amazing and it will assist us in bringing ladies together to support each other, in what can be a difficult time, if you have recently ended a relationship."

Waitrose Branch Manager at St Saviour, Duncan Langston, said: “It is fantastic that Waitrose branches are able to support their local communities nationwide. Our Partners are really excited about the event in Jersey and are looking forward to working with the Salvation Army to spread a little Christmas cheer, we know it’s something that will really make a difference.”