A TEAM of volunteers from Cwmbran put on a Christmas dinner for people in the community who were alone or homeless over the festive period.

The Christmas dinner has been an annual event at Cwmbran Community Centre in Cocker Avenue since it was first organised by husband and wife Tony and Dianne O’Neill in 2013.

Mrs O’Neill died in 2016 – and her husband, 70, said he wanted to keep the annual event going in her memory.

“It came about when my wife was alive,” he said. “She started making Christmas meals for the homeless in 2013 after we visited a homeless centre in Cardiff.

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“She would always bring everyone together. She passed away in 2016. I wanted to keep this going for her.

“This year went really well. We had about 35 to 37 people come along. There were people that came from Caerleon and Pontypool and from across Cwmbran.

“They all came in and had their food and were socialising with each other.

“It was amazing that people had come to help out. It was all donations, we wouldn’t have been able to do it without these.

“There were lots of volunteers helping out and dishing out dinners. We had people tell us how they can’t wait to come back and help next year.

“There was a barber, Matthew Creel, who brought his gear up and was giving out free haircuts. He was there from about midday and didn’t finish until around 4pm.

“We also had a chef, Terrance Austin, who prepared all the meals. He’s helped us out since we started doing this.

“I would like to thank all the volunteers who gave up their time, and all the people who came along. The company was exceptional and it was nice that everyone was so accepting.”

The project was one of 18 groups to receive a share of £10,800 of grants from supported by a grant from Bron Afon Community Housing.