Christmas lunch for £1 planned to bring community of Amble together

On Tuesday, December 17, The Masons Arms, Amble is hosting a community Christmas lunch at 12pm.

Lorraine Anne Hudson, who has recently moved to Amble, is the brains behind the idea. She posted her plan on Facebook and Amanda Peacock and her husband, Nigel Wilson, the landlord of The Mason Arms, saw the post and wanted to host the lunch.

Tickets are only £1 which will contribute to the three course meal, selection boxes, mince pies and coffees and teas available for all.

Any other contributions are welcome and any money left over from donations will be donated to Amble Food Bank.

Lorraine said: “The people and businesses of Amble have been very generous and we have organised this within a month, so we have been planning as much as possible for the community.

“The meal is for the whole community - even those who are new to the area.

“A couple of people are bringing people that they care for and it’ll be great for everyone to take time out no matter what they’re going through at this time of year.

“I recently moved here and Amble has been so amazing to me so I wanted to give back to the area.

“We’d love to see more people involved and if this goes well, we can organise more next year and keep this going as a yearly plan.”

Amanda Peacock told the Gazette how she was eager to be involved.

Her husband has been the landlord at The Masons Arms for five years and they run a regular quiz on a Thursday to raise money for Grainger Street Friends in Newcastle.

She said: “We’re keen on doing something more local and we saw this and thought it was something great to do as this time of year.

“It’s a great idea for community and Food Bank.

“We’ve already got the kitchen set up and ready to go. Hopefully, it will be an opportunity for people to come together and make new friendships.”