Oxford Christmas Lunch

22/01/2026

The lunch may be over but people are still sending us lovely photos - including this one of our lovely regular Ellie the Elf at the magic show. A big thank you to Royal Cars Oxford for bringing her and her powered wheelchair all the way from Thame without charge on Christmas Day.

27/12/2025

We had 600 people to lunch on Christmas Day - and an Emmy-award-winning filmmaker has made this lovely & very moving video of it!

With over 500 guests and 150 volunteers, we're pretty sure it's the largest Christmas Day community lunch in the UK, all cooked with food that would otherwise have gone to waste. It's a massive effort that somehow works thanks to our wonderful volunteers; the kitchen team of Andrew, Greg, Jen and co; and our generous supporters: The King's Centre, Oxford; Oxford Food Hub; Oxford Event Hire; Oxford Community Church; Happy Cakes; Lizard; Twistopher, Jamie ; Startech Productions; Cars Oxford; Kit Mobility Taxis; Park School; School, Woodstock; Primary School; @ Rose Hill Primary School; Oxford; ; Swan School; Flowers, Abingdon; Oxfordshire Homeless Movement; Orders of St John Care Trust across the region; College, Oxford; Farm PYO; @ Marion Creative Freelancer; Oxfordshire Community Foodbank, the Myatts, Tiggy Wildman and friends, Adrian Pennink and family, and many, many others. See you next year!

24/12/2025

Wow! This amazing cake will feed 600 people at the UK's largest community Christmas Day lunch tomorrow. Huge thanks to Julia at Happy Cakes and her incredible team - lead penguineer extraordinaire Dawn Robson and the great Kimberley Walton. A huge thank you to them! And... the roasties are almost ready too!

17/12/2025

We need volunteer drivers!

We currently have more guests wanting to come to our Christmas Day lunch than volunteers to drive them in - can you help?

Ideally, we need people who can pick up an elderly or vulnerable person (or two), bring them to the King’s Centre in Osney Mead for about 12.30, then sit and eat and chat on a big banquet-style table with others before taking them home at about 3. But if that’s difficult, you could skip the meal part, then come back at 3. Most guests are within a few miles or so of Oxford.

Please email [email protected] if you can!

28/11/2025

CAN YOU DRIVE A MINIBUS?

Every year nearly 100 of our 500-odd guests need to be collected by minibus. This year we don't have nearly enough minibus drivers! If you have any experience of driving minibuses or vans, and don't mind giving up most of your Christmas Day to help this amazing event for Oxfordshire's elderly, vulnerable, food-impoverished, refugee, learning-disabled or lonely residents, please get in touch with [email protected]. PS we're still looking for minibuses too - can your school or group help?

24/10/2025

Our 2025 fundraiser! We do the lunch on a shoestring, using mostly donated food - thank you Oxford Food Hub - but costs still mount up! Any donation is gratefully received.

Funding the annual Oxford Christmas Day Lunch, a community lunch cooked with food t… Oxford Christmas Lunch needs your support for Oxford Christmas Lunch 2025

24/10/2025

The Oxford Christmas Lunch will be happening again in 2025! A free three-course meal on Christmas Day, with transport and good company provided! To book a place, or to be one of our wonderful volunteers, email Sara at [email protected] .

31/12/2024

Every year we decorate a Christmas gazebo for people who'd rather stay outside (and their dogs) - that's where this lovely pic was snapped.

Another big shout out to the volunteers and local companies that make a free lunch for 500 people possible: The King's Centre, Oxford, Oxford Food Hub, Oxford Event Hire, Cottsway, Happy Cakes, Lapis Lizard - Oxfordshire Face Painting and Body Art, Twistina The Balloon Lady, Twistopher, Startech Productions, Wheatley Park School, Marion Creative Freelancer, Royal Cars Oxford, Headington Rye Oxford, Rectory Farm PYO, Oxford; School, Woodstock; Daybreak Oxford Charity, Bodleian Libraries, Lewis & Partners Oxford, Oxfordshire Community Foodbank, .C.E. Christmas Toy Drive; Crombie artist.

29/12/2024

Some stills from the ITV Meridian news segment on Oxford Christmas Lunch, interviewing volunteers and guests as we prepped on Dec 24th. You can watch on catch-up at 10 minutes in at https://www.itv.com/watch/news/catch-up-watch-the-latest-edition-of-itv-news-meridian-thames-valley-from-tuesday-24th-december/1ndlkl8

26/12/2024

I love the sound in these short clips of yesterday's lunch. It’s the sound of over 500 people – who would otherwise mostly have been alone on Christmas Day – talking, laughing, eating, meeting friends old and new, and feeling that yes, they’re a part of Christmas after all.

Huge thanks to 120 wonderful volunteers, the kitchen team of Andrew, Greg, Jenny and co, and our supporters: The King's Centre, Oxford, Oxford Food Hub, Oxford Event Hire, Cottsway, Happy Cakes, Lapis Lizard - Oxfordshire Face Painting and Body Art, Twistina The Balloon Lady, Twistopher, Startech Productions, Wheatley Park School, Marion Creative Freelancer, Royal Cars Oxford, Headington Rye Oxford, Rectory Farm PYO, Oxford; School, Woodstock; Daybreak Oxford Charity, Bodleian Libraries, Lewis & Partners Oxford, Oxfordshire Community Foodbank, .C.E. Christmas Toy Drive; Crombie artist.

23/12/2024

This AMAZING cake is almost 3ft tall, takes 2 people to lift and will feed over 500 people at the Oxford Christmas Lunch! As ever, massive thanks to Happy Cakes who have poured so much creativity and love into producing another masterpiece for the country's biggest community lunch. Preparations are now well under way - thanks to all the volunteers coming in to help prep!

09/11/2024

Oxford Christmas Lunch is happening again in 2024! We'll be at The King's Centre, Oxford on Christmas Day, 12.30-4PM. To book a place and transport, or to volunteer, contact Sara on [email protected] or 07535 314716.