CHRISTMAS is a time for caring for the less fortunate in our communities – including those who struggle to put food on the table.

This will be the seventh year that the Ivy Street Community Centre cooks Christmas dinners to individuals and families who are struggling make ends meet.

With the dark winter nights now set in, the Blackburn-based centre is preparing to cook more festive dinners than ever, as people feel the pinch from the rollout of universal credit and low wages.

Christine Connell, who has volunteered at the Ivy Street centre for nearly 30 years after setting up the facility with her sister Doreen in 1988, said ‘no one should be left without a Christmas dinner’.

She said: “We cook free Christmas dinners annually for anyone who is in need.

“This could be for lonely people, the homeless, or anyone who is struggling to afford to cook a dinner.

“People can either ring up or drop-in to the community centre so we can sort something beforehand, or they can turn up on the day and we’ll cook a dinner for them.

“There will be turkey, stuffing, veg, potatoes, and everything else that comes with it.

“We don’t turn anyone away as no one should be left without a Christmas dinner.”

Last year, the community centre cooked 42 Christmas dinners for the needy, and during the day, there is a raffle and bingo while transport is offered for those who cannot get down to the centre.

Christine said: “We’re expecting it to be busy as a lot of people are struggling, with some having to wait weeks for their payment if in receipt of universal credit, while others are just struggling on low incomes.

“We get elderly people coming in, the young and families with children, everyone of any age really.”

“If we have to cook 150 Christmas dinners, we’ll be there to do it.”

Christine and her sister set up the centre in 1988 at a time when they said youths brandished knives and rifles and when National Front were targeting Asians in the town.

The pair launched the centre to bring the community together and give people something to do other than be on the streets.

Opening seven days a week, the centre, in the Infirmary area of the town, was set up to offer community members a safe place where they could enjoy a variety of different classes and activities such as martial arts and dance classes.

Other initiatives held include wedding parties, fun days, trips out for people and sewing classes.

The efforts of the two sisters have not gone unrecognised, with both winning a number of awards for their services to the community, including a British Citizen Award last year for their work, at the House of Lords.

And Christmas dinner is not the only thing on the menu for the community centre this year, which has already put on a Christmas fair which included a tombola, raffle and stall , while they also organise festive parties for groups they run and are planning on a further festive party in the New Year.

While the centre is also offering food hampers with essentials including canned food and pasta for the needy, which are priced at £3, although people can pay later if they are waiting for a universal credit payment.

Christine, who runs the centre with the help of ten volunteers, including Owen Johnston, site-supervisor Sue Thomas, treasurer Ann Murray and volunteer Mandy Pilkington, said: “The main aim of the centre is to bring the community together and that is what Christmas should be all about, caring for those less fortunate in our communities and helping them in any way we can.

“This is why we set-up the centre and I love helping others and I wouldn’t do anything else.”

In the past, the centre has also been a place of refuge for residents caught up in major incidents in Blackburn.

Residents were evacuated to the centre in September after a fire involving a derelict building in Paterson Street which contained plastics and recycling waste.

The Ivy Street centre will be cooking Christmas dinners between noon and 4pm on Christmas Day.