Horndean Technology College pupils show the true meaning of Christmas with hampers for elderly residents

This year would have been the 20th anniversary of the school’s Senior Citizens Christmas Lunch which is normally attended by around 100 local people.

To ensure residents did ‘not feel forgotten’ and still got their festive food pupils set about creating 100 hampers to be delivered to those people who would normally have attended the event.

Speaking about the initiative, headteacher Julie Summerfield said: ‘Each week we would normally have elderly residents who come into the school and are served cups of tea and have a chat with the pupils. We would normally be hosting our Christmas lunch which is a great community event which we were unfortunately not able to do this year.

‘The pupils serve the residents their dinner and it is often a real highlight of the year. While residents couldn’t take part in the meal, the pupils wanted to make sure they didn’t miss out and and that they realised we were still thinking about them at what has been a difficult time.’

Once the hampers were made up and with the help of Horndean Parish Council and local business Horndean Tyres, they were delivered to the lunch club members by the school’s head boy and girl, Martin and Wendy Lloyd who are twins.

SEE ALSO: Exam changes welcomed by Hampshire headteachers but concerns remain over ‘level playing field’ for pupils

After delivering the hampers, Martin, 16, said: ‘I really enjoyed giving out the hampers to the lunch club members and it was heart-warming to see how happy they were to see us.’

Wendy added: ‘It was so rewarding to give out the hampers as you really saw how much of a difference it made for them. Firstly for receiving the hamper but also many of them haven't been able to go out so you could tell how much it meant to them to have a proper in person conversation.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

You can subscribe here for unlimited access to Portsmouth news online - as well as fewer adverts, access to our digital edition and mobile app.

Our trial offer starts at just £2 a month for the first two months.