Christmas dinner well attended

The Dunedin Town Hall was packed to the rafters with merry-makers from all over the city for a special Christmas meal yesterday.

The popular Dunedin Community Christmas Dinner began with a concert as people joined together to celebrate the festive season.

Dunedin Christmas Charitable Trust chairman Rob Riddell Tigeir said the day had been a resounding success

"We’ve got 500-odd guests and about 200 volunteers making it all happen ... We have a lot of people who care and want to make sure everyone is having a good Christmas," he said.

For the past nine years, Mr Riddell Tigeir has spent his Christmas at the town hall, but he has never attended as a guest.

"I’m too introverted for such things as this, but for some reason here I still am."

This Christmas was the first year for the new board, and it was a "real buzz" to see months of hard work materialise.

"All the slogging through spreadsheets — it was worth it to see the day come together. It’s amazing and people are just having such a great time.

"The best feedback we get is seeing the wide smiles on everyone’s faces."

On the menu was ham, chicken and vegan and vegetarian options, along with roast potatoes, gravy and vegetables.

For dessert, there was pavlova, Christmas pudding and custard.

Volunteer Paula Peat said this was her second Christmas working as a server.

"We do the big Christmas celebrations on Christmas Eve now to free us up for today ... It’s good to spend the season giving back to others."

laine.priestley@odt.co.nz