Foundation Achieve 2023 Christmas Day Targets

Hibernian Community Foundation was successful in achieving their 2023 Christmas Day targets, which saw 543 community members nominated to receive a meal.

The Foundations desire to ensure members of our local community and from further afield enjoyed a memorable Christmas led to the largest and most successful Christmas Day to date.

Without the incredible effort and spirit of Foundation staff members and community volunteers, many would have felt deserted throughout the festive period.

Over 300 people attended the Christmas Lunch hosted at Easter Road Stadium, which saw players from the Men and Women’s squads in attendance as they handed out gifts and served food throughout the day.

Despite the community spirit being on show at the stadium, it was the positive impact that we made on those who were unable to attend the lunch that we are most proud of.

We delivered food to 170 people across 90 locations, with over 65% of the home drop offs being made to community members living alone.

One of our 89 volunteers, who delivered food packages on Christmas morning, was heavily impacted by interacting with those who were alone on Christmas Day.

Our volunteer said:

“We saw some heart-breaking sights during our deliveries.

“On one of the deliveries, we dropped off a food package to a disabled man. The man came to the door on his hands and knees as he was unable to walk and chose not to use his wheelchair.

“I asked if he’d like me to bring his food inside as he clearly wouldn’t have managed otherwise.  He was absolutely delighted with the delivery – he’d even forgotten it was Christmas Day.”

In a recent report by Alternative Futures Group, an estimated 8% of the UK, and 14% of over 65’s, spent Christmas on their own in 2023.

It is also estimated that over 7% of the UK experience chronic loneliness.

“I think that man would have chatted away to us for ages.  We were maybe the only people he’d see or speak to that day” our volunteer added.

Hibernian Community Foundation aim to bring community members together on a weekly basis to reduce loneliness across Edinburgh.

Weekly Lunch Clubs which take place on Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons offer free meals and socialisation at Easter Road Stadium.

We also offer numerous programmes that encourage socialisation for a range of age groups, such as Football Memories, Matchday Monday Club and our Community Choir.

You can find out more about the Foundations community work by CLICKING HERE!