A SOCIAL club which provides hot meals and activities for the elderly local community celebrated Christmas in style this year.

Volunteers at The Victoria Centre in Lydney, located on Victoria Road near Tesco, held a proper festive do for regulars before Christmas - where they also announced they’d secured £10,000 to improve the centre’s facilities.

The volunteers who run the centre came up with a new idea for an event this Christmas, a nativity play performed by the team for the enjoyment of all the diners.

Centre Chair Glynis Halling explained: “We have an amazing team of volunteers who work really hard to run the centre and this year Carol, our coordinator decided it would be great to put on a Nativity Play for all the diners and all the volunteers would play a part.

“It was a special day which started with a buffet lunch with sandwiches, mince pies, sausage rolls and mulled wine followed by tea and coffee and then we performed the play which was thoroughly enjoyed by an audience of around 50 people.

“A wonderful surprise on the day was the news that our grant application to the National Lottery for £10,000 to refurbish all the loos at the centre had been awarded, we are thrilled and it gave us the perfect opportunity to make the announcement on Tuesday (December 19) which rounded off a very successful day.”

The Victoria Centre opens on a Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday every week and serves a two-course meal, freshly cooked for its diners.

Glynis added of the centre: “It is a wonderful community place for people to meet friends, make new friends and have the chance to socialise.

“Many of our diners live alone and for many of them it is their only outing in the week.”

For more information, go to www.victoriacentre.uk.