Three secret ingredients to the perfect Christmas dinner? Peace, goodwill and Unity

GIFTS, decorations and the big dinner with your family are the Christmas essentials for most of us.

But, for many, their absence only makes the season of goodwill one to dread.

Whether it’s facing up to spending the day alone or not having enough money to pay for the festivities, December 25 is a date plenty would gladly skip.

Angela McNay is trying to make Christmas enjoyable for those enduring a difficult time. She has invited them to her social enterprise cafe, Unity Grill, to enjoy a festive meal.

It will be a sneak preview of the new cafe in Ayr, which opens officially at the end of January.

Here, Angela tells MURRAY SCOUGALL why Christmas is a time for Unity.

CHRISTMAS is supposed to be a happy, special time but, for many people, it can pile new pressures on stressful lives.

People who don’t know where they will sleep that night, where their next meal is coming from.

People worried about paying the next bill, never mind buying presents for their children.

People who are on their own will say it’s just another day, but when you are alone it becomes a very long day.

These are facts we can’t ignore.

For the last few years, my family and I have helped out at a homeless charity on Christmas Day.

This December 25 we will put on a three-course dinner at our soon-to-be-opened social restaurant, Unity Grill, for those in our community who find themselves struggling or alone.

We set up a crowdfunding page to pay for the Christmas Day event and raised 205% of our target amount, so it’s going to be special.

The turkey, dessert and ice cream have been donated too, underlining the great support we’ve had from the community.

We currently have almost 30 people joining us for dinner. These names have come from referrals through organisations such as the social work department and Women’s Aid, and from people contacting me directly.

Everyone who is attending is volunteering to cook or set up the table. It’s easier for people to say: ‘I’m on my own, so I’m going to go out and volunteer this year’. This way it feels like they are helping.

Once we eat, we’ll all clear up together.

We also have gift hampers which we’ll give to everyone. Companies like Lush have donated, someone has handed in 50 boxes of chocolate, while another person made beautiful bookmarks, and we’ll also include bags of food, because the period over Christmas and New Year can feel like a long time.

I hoped Unity Grill would be open by now but we’ve had various issues with the building. I didn’t want to let anyone down and my house isn’t big enough to host it, so we’ve made a special effort to open for Christmas Day and then it should open officially on January 26.

I’ve worked in kitchens all my working life, but when my four kids were old enough I decided I wanted to go to college and do something different.

I graduated with a degree in social policy and thought I would go into teaching, but all my research was in food poverty and it sparked the idea for Unity Grill.

I’ve volunteered with South Ayrshire foodbank for three years, which let me look at all aspects of how it works, and I researched what other cities and countries were doing to combat the issue.

Yet people who use foodbanks are just the tip of the iceberg.

So many people will refuse to use them because of the stigma attached. It’s really difficult for people to admit they can’t manage the basic need of feeding themselves.

The common thread was that food poverty leads to social isolation, because everything in our society revolves around food – meeting someone for a coffee, having a birthday dinner, and so on.

If you can’t afford the weekly shop, then you can’t afford to eat out. I wanted to create a place where people could come for a meal.

It will be set up like a normal restaurant – there is a menu with prices that people who can afford to pay will pay.

But for those who can’t, they can volunteer their time in advance and are given a voucher to offset the balance of the bill.

People won’t know who is paying and who isn’t as the payment method is kept discreet.

By allowing folk to volunteer it gives them back their dignity, as I’ve realised people don’t want something for nothing.

The community support has been amazing, as has been the efforts from so many people to get the building ready.

I’m excited about what we are creating and Christmas Day is just the beginning.