News > Christmas day dinner event 2021

The Cyrenians have provided a Christmas Day Dinner Event to the homeless in Coventry for over 40 years and we believe it to be one of the biggest and most attended in the country as it is open to anyone who is homeless, in temporary accommodation, or vulnerable and would like to sit down and enjoy their Christmas with others.

The items were kindly delivered by staff member Mrs A J Tracy who said the pupils had thought really hard about what would be most usuful to give out to our service users and guests who attend our Christmas Day Dinner Event for the homeless & vulnerable this Christmas.

So once again it was an absolute pleasure to be the lead coordinator for the Cyrenians Christmas Day event 2021.

After the disruption and relocation of last year’s event due to COVID it was amazing to be back at our usual venue of the Methodist Central Hall in Warwick Lane, Coventry.

Also, this year was the first time we got to work with Carlton and Clare from Urban Goodies (pictured left) to provide our guests with their Christmas dinner and dessert. I have to say, as many guests commented on the day, it was one of the best Christmas dinners we’ve ever served so a huge thank you to Carlton and Clare for your hard work and professionalism and to Jane and Kate who worked so hard in the Kitchen on the day too.

The day was a great success, there were over 120 people in attendance, including volunteers. We managed to provide meals for over 80 guests who were also welcome to have goodie bags and gifts from our fantastic donation room.

I’d like to thank all of the volunteers and entertainers who all worked so hard to make it a special day for everyone. A special mention must go to Katrina, Alisha and Josh who helped decorate the stage with amazing Christmas decorations and lights. It looked brilliant.

I look forward to planning the 2022 Christmas event, we are always looking at ways to improve the experience for our guests and I hope that my fellow lead coordinator Sophie may return this year as she was definitely missed on the day. Thanks also to Ade (pictured right) at the Methodist Central Hall for his support and kindness and a huge thankyou to Jo Page who worked so tirelessly in organising the event and a thank you to everyone who donated food, gifts and money donations.

Matt Cattell

Entertainment provided by: Dan Cross, Thomas McBrien, Sheridan French & Abz Winter.
Photos provided by professional photographer Atul Patel

Feedback from some of the volunteers:

“Everyone was polite & pleasant – great atmosphere”

“The best part of the day was chatting to the guests & observing their gratitude”

“Great teamwork”

“Matt is brilliant!”

“Great set up, they loved it & appreciated it”

“Well done to everyone involved”

“It cheered me up after a tough 14 months, hoping I made a difference”