“It’s a feel good day. That’s what Christmas should be about.”

15 December 2016

Clare Johnson believes that no-one should be on their own on Christmas Day. It’s a belief that keeps her going through the manic moments of organising White Christmas, a festive dinner at Liverpool’s Titanic Hotel for vulnerable people on their own on Christmas Day.

This year’s dinner will be made with surplus food saved from waste by FareShare Merseyside.  We caught up with Clare to find out how to make a festive feast for 500 people out of surplus food and to hear inspiring stories about what White Christmas means to their guests.

Clare Johnson (left), Project Manager of White Christmas with Luca and his mum Linda

Tell us about White Christmas

White Christmas supports socially isolated people right across Liverpool, no matter what age or background. Some of our guests have families who have grown up and moved away. For others it’s the first Christmas they’re spending alone because their mum has died in the past year. Some are young homeless people who are living in supported accommodation.

Lots of people who come along can’t afford to put the heating on at home but we can give them warmth and a decent meal. These are things people struggle with every day and not just Christmas.

How many guests come along?

We have up to 500 guests! Last year only 12 people who registered couldn’t make it because of ill health, so we took their dinner to them at home instead.

What’s on the menu?

Most of the menu will be made with surplus food redistributed to us by FareShare, including joints of beef and stuffing balls for the roast dinner (we’ll have a veggie option too). We’ll finish the three courses with surplus mince pies from FareShare topped with cream donated by a local dairy farmer. If we all work together we can make a difference!

We don’t have much funding this year so without food from FareShare it would have been really difficult to hold this year’s event.

Guests enjoy their dinner at White Christmas in 2015

How do you go about cooking a Christmas dinner for 500 people?!

We do as much prep as possible on Christmas Eve, we have chefs on site and volunteers to help prepare the food ready for the Christmas Day rush, peeling the potatoes and so on. We’ve worked out that since we started in 2013 we’ve peeled 7,812 potatoes!

What’s it like on the day?

Organised chaos! We have singers, therapy dogs and people get up and dance, or just sit, chat and enjoy the atmosphere. There’s a lot of community spirit.

There are sad stories but you’ll hear funny stories too. There’s always something that will make you laugh and it stays with you all year. It’s a fun day and a feel good day. That’s what Christmas should be about. It’s not about spending hundreds of pounds on things that you will throw away.

What does White Christmas mean to guests?

It means a meal, warmth and company but it also means something different to each person. I’ve been speaking to a woman who has been coming for three years and she told me that last year she made two friends who she’s kept in touch with throughout the year. This year they’ll sit together.

We have one guest coming for the first time this year who told me that since her husband died six years ago, her only companion is her cat. On Christmas Day she has one half of a can of soup and the other half on Boxing Day. That way she can afford to get her cat a nice tin of food or a toy. This year she’s joining us at White Christmas. We’ll buy the cat a toy and donate a few tins of cat food so she doesn’t have to go without. She’ll have company and a nice meal on Christmas Day for the first time in six years.

It can mean more than you could ever put into words.

So this is the first year you’ve worked with FareShare – how will it help?

In the past, the majority of our budget went on food but this year it hasn’t because of FareShare. We won’t have much spare as our budget is so tight but if we do we’ll use it to buy gifts for people and extras such as gravy and decorations. We’re having a memory tree this year, decorated with gift labels so people can add their own message.

Dave Bullock of FareShare Merseyside with Clare. As well as managing the Merseyside warehouse Dave volunteers at White Christmas. Dave was the lucky winner of a Liverpool shirt donated by Jamie Carragher as a raffle prize to raise funds for White Christmas.

 You organise White Christmas voluntarily, what keeps you motivated?

I’ve lived two separate lives. In the first part of my life I worked in high profile event management. I thought that was the life that everyone lived, it didn’t really register that there were so many people who were disadvantaged.

In 2002 I had MRSA and developed septicaemia which has left me with extensive nerve damage up to my neck and I was told that I would always be in a wheelchair. For me if I hadn’t had my mum I don’t know what I would have done.

Our guests, for whatever reason, they’re on their own. I know how it feels to feel helpless. On Christmas Day night, all the stress is worth it because people are smiling and enjoying themselves. That’s what keeps me going!

And finally…what’s your favourite part of Christmas dinner?

Roast potatoes. I’m weird, I always leave them until last although they’re my favourite, I don’t know why!

White Christmas still have a few places available for Christmas Day – email clare@whitechristmasliverpool.co.uk or phone 07851 899 586 or contact us on Facebook “White Christmas NW” or Twitter @WhiteXmasNW.