THE year 2020 is one that will, for myriad negative reasons, live long in the memory. Furlough’s, redundancies, severe lack of opportunities for the self-employed and small business owners are just some of the impacts that the trials and tribulations of Covid-19 have foisted upon communities up and down the country and across the globe.

However, in the midst of the blanket of negative news, impositions on normal lives and restrictions on all kinds of activities, positive stories abound where people and organisations have looked beyond their own circumstances to help those most affected by the pandemic.

In this vein, a collaboration of Crediton Charities, businesses and individuals came together before Christmas to ensure that as many families, people in need and those unfortunate enough to have been shielding for much of the year had a "proper" Christmas dinner available to them if they couldn’t manage it themselves.

The initiative was driven by Eran Hovav, the owner of the Baobab Restaurant in Crediton’s Town Square, who came up with the idea, secured funding and cooked the meals provided.

Working with Crediton Foodbank, Age Concern Crediton, the Community Lunch Club and local schools the organisations identified and offered the option of a Christmas Hamper, containing all of the meat, veg and desert ingredients that the recipient would prepare and cook themselves, or a pre-cooked and boxed "take away" dinner that just required re-heating.

Two months in the planning, Eran, Chris Parsons from Crediton Foodbank and Andrew Drayton, Community Champion from Crediton Tesco put together the list of recipients as well as; organising more funding, planning the preparation, cooking, portioning and distribution of the meals over the three days prior to Christmas Day, with the cooked meals delivered on Christmas Eve.

In total, and across both "types" of meals given, they were able to provide festive dining to around 200 people from in and around Crediton.

In the end, they were able to do even more than just provide a festive meal as donations of crackers, books, selection packs and Christmas cards made by local children were added to the provisions provided, putting the "merry" into Merry Christmas.

Chris Parsons, Crediton Foodbank Co-ordinator said: "The Christmas Meal collaboration between The Baobab, Tesco, the Foodbank and Community Lunch Club was a great initiative.

"We were able to provide 25 fresh turkey hampers feeding 42 adults and 47 children to Foodbank users and on Christmas Eve delivered complete Christmas dinners with all the trimmings to 38 adults and 11 children, from the Foodbank and Community Lunch Club.

"All meals and hampers came with cards made by children, crackers, chocolate selection packs and books for children.

"Thank you to all those people and businesses who donated food and other items and to the volunteers who cooked, packed and delivered meals and hampers.

"Special thanks goes to Eran Hovav from The Baobab for cooking a delicious Christmas meal and giving up his time, fridges, and restaurant space to make this possible and to everyone who contributed in any way for their hard work and commitment to the initiative."

In addition to the donations of items it was also the kindness and hard work of a team of volunteers and the girls that work at the Baobab that enabled the whole project to be successful. During the three day period the Baobab Restaurant, as well as serving its own customers, became a hive of activity as cold hampers were constructed, cold dinners were portioned and the lists perused so that everyone got what they required. Completed packages were then distributed around the town and outlying villages in time for the big day.

Tesco’s Community Champion, Andrew Drayton, was delighted to be part of the project, stating: “Yet again it was fabulous to watch the Crediton community band together to alleviate some of the hardships our fellow residents found themselves facing.

"Christmas, especially the Christmas of 2020, is a time that everyone looks forward to and a major part of those celebrations is the big Christmas dinner with all of the trimmings.

"Having worked closely with Crediton Foodbank throughout the year it is inescapable to see the impact that the year we’d been through had had in our community.

"Eran’s idea to provide for those that, this year, would struggle to do so by themselves was just one example of the selfless acts that restore your faith in humanity. His work to get the project going, raising funds and, not least of all, cooking a quality meal for 100 residents can only be lauded in the strongest possible way.”

Andrew continued: “To be a part of all of this and join in with the many volunteers provides auspice that, whatever is to come, there will always be those that look to help the less fortunate in our community. It was a truly heart-warming way to end an oppressive year.”

The organisers of the Christmas Meal project would like to express their sincere thanks to all of the businesses that donated and helped make it all happen. These include: Coco’s, Planetplay, Arque, Edward Harrison, AJ Cox, Thorne’s Farm Shop and Cafe, Crediton Community Bookshop and Crediton Tesco.

Thanks and huge appreciation also went to everyone who gave up their time to lend-a-hand putting it all together and delivering to all of the homes receiving meals, especially Mille and Lily, two young girls that co-ordinated the packaging and distribution with minimal fuss and error across the three days.