Festive fun brings community together at Big H&F Christmas Day Lunch

The 2022 Big H&F Christmas Lunch was a triumph. It was even more festive for being the first time we’ve been able to host this event for three years due to Covid. This lunch brought hundreds of community members together to celebrate Christmas with food, gifts and music at the Novotel London West hotel in Hammersmith.

H&F Giving worked with Hammersmith & Fulham Council to organise and raise funds to treat older, isolated residents of the borough to a lovely two-course lunch with a gift bag and free transport for those who needed it.

Flora Taylor, Executive Director (Maternity Cover), H&F Giving, said: “It was great to be able to help with such a festive celebration for those that would otherwise spend Christmas Day alone. The appeal really resonated with local companies, trusts and residents and their support has been incredibly generous. Any funding raised that goes beyond the costs of the event will be put towards next year’s event.”

Loved every minute

“We loved every single minute of it,” said one resident of Sycamore House, an almshouse run by Hammersmith United Charities for low-income elderly residents. “Eternal thanks to all of the organisers.”

The lunch is completely funded by local giving so we are incredibly grateful to everyone who contributed gift items, money, or their time to make this event happen. Many local people contributed to the lunch appeal by making donations via our website.  More than 240 people donated to our crowdfunding campaign which raised an incredible £16,330.

Local businesses also made invaluable contributions and we also want to thank our major sponsors.

DEBK, a local charity which has been working to relieve poverty in Fulham since 1618, gave us incredible support with a donation of £6,000.

We extend a big thank you to Chelsea Football Club, which made an incredibly valuable contribution to our appeal with a gift of £5,000.

A generous contribution of £5,000 from The Earls Court Development Company was also instrumental in the lunch going ahead.

Our wonderful local football club QPR can always be counted on for support and they didn’t disappoint this year with a donation of £1,000.

GLL makes a vital contribution to helping make community spaces better for everyone and we really appreciate the £1,000 they contributed to making the lunch a success.

Hammersmith BID is a loyal supporter of the community and we also greatly appreciate the £500 the organisation donated to our lunch event.

Patri artisan Indian street food and drinks also donated restaurant vouchers for the raffle and we thank them for their delicious contribution.

A welcome return after 3 years

This was the first time in three years that this event brought people together, as the pandemic meant no lunch in 2020 and 2021. In 2022 we organised an operation to bring hot meals to the homes of residents.

But nothing compares with the joy of being with friendly faces at Christmas and we were delighted to hold the event and bring older people in the borough together in 2022 to celebrate with companionship, great food, music and seasonal cheer.

We really appreciate everyone who contributed to making this happen, from volunteers on the day, volunteers who packed gift bags, those who attended, the hotel staff, and of course our generous sponsors.

See you next year!