The town's traditional holiday feast, which was held annually for about 16 years, was cancelled last year when key organisers could not be found.
A few weeks before Christmas, Warren Wharton, Cathryn Robertson and the Rev Andrew Howley, all of Alexandra, began organising a new lunch. The resulting outdoor barbecue attracted about 60 people, many of whom were seasonal workers, to the St Enoch's church grounds on Christmas Day.
Mr Howley said the event would return this year.
Organisers would ''make noise'' in coming weeks about the event to find volunteers and potential donors, he said.
The past organisers opted for a more traditional lunch, which required more co-ordination, he said.
''They got in touch with us in the middle of the year saying they were not able to host it again. Some of them had done it for a very long time and wanted to be with family.
''They said if we ran into financial difficulty, they'd help us out.''
Money was left over from last year's event, he said.
''We were stoked with what we managed to pull together in a few weeks.''
The free lunch was for ''anyone who wanted to spend Christmas with people'', he said.
Past co-organiser Andrew Ross, of Clyde, said he and other organisers would ''stand back'' from now on.
''The other people have organised their barbecue now, which went very well last year.
''It's what people want these days, something a bit more casual.''
