Hartlepool couple to cook free Christmas dinners for people who are alone on Christmas day

Tia Evans, 21, and her partner James Smith, 26, are going to cook free Christmas dinners for people in Hartlepool who will be alone on the holiday and won’t be able to have a warm festive meal.

The kind couple decided they wanted to help and give back to the community following the tough times brought by the pandemic and hope their action will inspire people to help each other more as well.

Tia said: “A lot of people have had a difficult couple of years and it’s just nice to help.

"We love to cook, we spend most days making dinners and I just thought with the Covid situation and everything last year it’s nice to give a little bit back.”

The self-employed eye lash technician, who is mum to four-year-old Isaac, continued: "It’s for people who have no one at Christmas time.

"I couldn’t think of anything worse than being in that situation with my son. I want to teach my son that it’s always nice to give, especially at Christmas time.”

She added: "Last year I was a support worker over the Christmas period. That opened my eyes a lot of how many people actually do spend Christmas alone.”

The dinners will include a starter, main meal and a dessert and Tia has said she and James are considering increasing their initial offer of cooking 10 Christmas dinners after the positive response they have had.

There is an option for the food to be collected or delivered and Tia hopes it will let people in need “know that they’re not alone.”

Tia said: "We are aiming to do more too with the response we’ve had already. We are hoping next year it can continue to grow and hopefully in the years to come we can get it to a stage where nobody in the town goes hungry on Christmas Day.

"We’ve got a few volunteers offering to deliver these dinners just off seeing our post on social media and also take their children with them to show them the true meaning of Christmas.”

Further details are available from Tia’s Facebook page.

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