Fleetwood Christmas dinners for the lonely get Royal praise

A woman whose work to feed hundreds of people who spend Christmas alone has been praised by the Princess of Wales.

Heather Johnstone, from Fleetwood, Lancashire, was invited to attend a recording of the Royal Carol Service at Westminster Abbey, which is due to be broadcast on ITV1 this Christmas.

She was invited to light a candle during the service in recognition of her work to serve festive lunches to as many as 250 people, annually, since 2019.

Afterwards, the princess took time to speak to Ms Johnstone and her three children. Ms Johnstone told BBC Radio Lancashire the Princess was “such a lovely lady”.

“The carol service was beautiful, and it was so good to see such lovely, kind people in one room,” she said.

“The princess sat and had a chat with me and my daughter, too”, adding they “shared their love” for furry coat collars.

Ms Johnstone first came up with the idea of a community Christmas dinner after she had “a hard year” in 2018.

She described a community meeting and speaking to a Macmillan nurse who was searching for a Christmas dinner for her patients on end-of-life treatment to attend.

“There wasn’t any around so the town pulled together in 2019 and helped me do the first Christmas dinner.

“We had 60 people, it was magical, and I remember thinking we needed to do it every year because there were so many people in need.”

The dinner has grown in size – with the 2024 event feeding more than 250 people.

Ms Johnstone has also since gone on to found the community group Ember and Blossom CIC, which supports the project.

“There’s not a type of person who isn’t allowed to come. It’s like one big family Christmas dinner.

“We have the homeless, and we have a guest this year who is 100 years old.

“We want to reach out to everyone and get the community together to create long-lasting connections.”