An unprecedented record number of 64 pensioners will be attending this year’s 10th anniversary Christmas lunch at Marlborough Town Hall organised by retired local journalist Nigel Kerton and his wife Joy.
The first ever waiting list for the £5 a head event was started but it is now likely that everyone will be accommodated and be able to enjoy home-made soup, a traditional turkey lunch and Christmas cake or apple pie for dessert.
“We expect everybody on the waiting list will be absorbed,” Nigel told Marlborough News Online. “We started off with about 30 people at the first lunch. Then the demand crept up to 40, 44, 46 but this year we have got a record, unprecedented record number of 64.
“The increase is probably recessional to some extent. Old people are trying to save a few bob in these hard times. I understand the cheapest Christmas lunch in a Marlborough pub or hotel is £45.”
Most of those attending are either widows or widowers, 87-year-old George Johnson, whose wife died five years ago, revealed in a Points West report on BBC TV last night (Friday).
“It’s a fantastic day and a social occasion as well, the people attending in the same boat as I am,” he said.
The size of the Town Hall kitchens limit the total number of people who can enjoy the Christmas lunch cooked by the Kerton’s elder grand-daughter Evie, 23, with their 13-year-old younger grand-daughter Vicky helping out as a waitress, along with fellow students from St John’s School.
“It is very much a family occasion,” added Nigel. “And it is made possible by the generosity of sponsors like Waitrose, who help to defray the £5 pensioners pay, the overall cost each year of about £900.
“And we send everyone home with a pre-packed Christmas tea with turkey and ham sandwiches, mince pie, Christmas cake and fruit in a little bag of their own.”
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