Charity offers hundreds of Christmas lunches

A charity is set to cook and deliver hundreds of free Christmas meals to people struggling with the cost of living.

A team of volunteers at Telford and Wrekin Interfaith Council will offer more than 100 lunches from their building in Wellington to families and people in need on Christmas Day.

Chairman Raj Metta said he wanted to make sure everyone had a hot meal at Christmas, with "unity in the community" the group's main message.

"We want to make sure we make that day special for them, for anyone, no one should go without a Christmas meal on Christmas Day," he said.

The interfaith council was "one big family," Mr Metta said.

"Anyone from any background or from any walk of life can approach us for anything they need," he said.

"We can signpost, we can support, we can help, we can be a listening ear."

He said Christmas meals will be delivered to people between 10:30 GMT and 12:30 GMT, with a sit-down meal served until 14:30 GMT.

"We as an interfaith council always want to make sure on Christmas Day that everyone has a hot meal, whether we deliver it to them or they come and sit down and enjoy Christmas with us in the building," he said.

"We want to make sure we make that day special."

Les Pointer, the interfaith council's general manager, described how "everything intensifies" around Christmas, as the charity works with homeless organisations, Mind, Family Connect and Age UK to make sure nobody in Telford and Wrekin is without a Christmas meal on Christmas Day.

One of the projects he is also involved with is the charity's Santa sleigh event.

"We travel around the borough to children that don't get out to see Santa - so we take Santa to them," he said.

"Seeing the faces of the children as we go around - hundred and hundreds of children around all the borough - it's just amazing to see their smiling faces."

Follow BBC Shropshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.