A PUB in Corsley is calling for more pubs and restaurants to give their leftovers to those in need following their Christmas ‘Feed Frome’ campaign last month.
Landlords at The White Hart in Corsley, Adelle Gill and Stephen Ellis, gave up their Christmas Eve to cook around 100 meals to hand out to those in need outside Frome’s community fridge in the town centre.
And they are calling on other pubs and restaurants to follow in their footsteps.
Adelle and Stephen know first hand how hard life can be following their move from Yorkshire to Somerset last year. They found themselves homeless for seven months, living in a caravan, before taking over The White Hart in Corsley last year.
Together, they wanted to give back to others who find themselves homeless and also those who couldn’t afford a Christmas meal.
Chef Stephen spent Christmas Eve preparing the meals and a group of volunteers, who heard what the pub was doing and wanted to help, helped to box up the meals and hand them out at Frome’s community fridge.
Adelle Gill told Frome Times, “We thought it was important to reach out to people this Christmas.
“We know there are so many people out there struggling, unknowingly to others. It’s not just those who are homeless, you could just be down on your luck; old people, parents, young people.
“So many people are struggling to feed themselves. Times are tough, especially at Christmas, it’s a hard time of year for anyone feeling alone. We just wanted to make people smile.
“We will continue to donate food to the Frome Fridge as often as we can. We think it’s a fantastic project.
“We are calling on other pubs and restaurants in the area to do the same.
“It made so many people’s Christmas. Stephen actually hand delivered a Christmas meal to an elderly man who hadn’t had a Christmas meal since 1987. After finding out about him through Anne Harris, how could we not sort him out with a dinner?
“We’re not the type of people to just walk by, our own hardships have made us more understanding that anyone can be vulnerable. We got through our hard times through the kindness of strangers and we just want to give back to those who find themselves struggling.
“We want to say a huge thank you to all the volunteers, the communities of both Warminster and Frome, staff at The White Hart and our friends and family. We couldn’t have done it without them. I want to say a special thank you to chef Stephen too.”