This is a text-only version of an article first published on Tuesday, 10 December 2019. Information shown on this page may no longer be current.
AWARD winning Christian charity, The Balsam Family Project, laid on a two-course Christmas lunch for 43 vulnerable and isolated families at the Didcot Civic Hall in Oxfordshire in early December.
Sophie Wilson (centre) receives a Balsam College Course award for personal growth and development.
On the right is Alex Walker and right is Sophie Billington.
Participants enjoy the festive fun.
Trustees, volunteers and staff cooked and served turkey with all the trimmings to around 175 people from Didcot and the surrounding areas.
Balsam teamed up with other charities and businesses to ensure the families they work with had a day to remember.
Secret Santa Oxfordshire handed out wrapped gifts and the Didcot Foodbank ensured families went home with festive hampers.
The total cost of the hampers was between £2,000 and £3,000.
Bright Horizons Nurseries gave a book to every child. Alex Walker, Balsam founder and Project Manager, said: "We're so grateful to our friends at Secret Santa and Bright Horizons for their support and to Rabbits Vehicle Hire for providing much needed transport so we could get the hampers to where they were needed.
For a charity that aims to bring families - and family members - closer together, nothing could be more rewarding than looking out on a sea of happy faces and watching people enjoy being with and around loved ones at Christmas time.
We believe in the value of every adult and child and seek to encourage a sense of worth and value that parents can pass on to their own children. "Didcot Mayor Jackie Billington was among the volunteers who waited on tables.
John Hobbs, lead singer and guitarist with local band The Gangbusters, performed a Christmas set with daughters Julie and Joanne, while a children's entertainer from Oxford Entertainments ensured the kids had plenty to do, and laugh at. The Balsam Family Project recently won two awards at the Didcot First Business & Community Awards (BACAS) 2017, scooping prizes for Best Volunteer Development and for Partnerships and Collaborations. At the Civic Hall event, certificates were also presented to graduates from Balsam's own college courses.
Single mum Amanda said: "I'm overwhelmed with the kind words said about me and I'll be volunteering for the charity after I complete my course. "Alex added: "We currently work with more than 90 families in Oxfordshire and it is so rewarding to see people grow in confidence and flourish.
Our belief in the importance of family is at the heart of everything we do. "