Christmas carol service and lunch

19 December 2025

Carols and Christmas Cheer

Local company Mears once again spread some Christmas cheer by supporting Age UK Rotherham's annual Carol service and Christmas lunch for the Charity's beneficiaries, volunteers and supporters. The event, held at Clifton Methodist church, has been funded by the Mears Group, for over ten years. Their magnificent team of volunteers organise the whole thing, so that the charity can concentrate on making it great experience for their guests. The caring staff from Mears do all the shopping, food preparation and cooking as well as laying out the tables with a fabulous festive theme, before serving a delicious Christmas dinner with all the trimmings. And they don't stop there, even the clearing away and washing up is sorted!

This year Lady Neill attended the event representing one of the charity's long-term supporters, The Marjorie Coote Older People's Charity, who have funded Age UK Rotherham's Information and Advice service for over ten years. Another special guest was the Mayor of Rotherham, Rukhsana Ismail, who is also a trustee of the charity. Barbara Dinsdale, CEO of Age UK Rotherham said We were delighted that Lady Neill was able to join us and experience what a difference the charity makes to older people in the community, especially at Christmas." Barbara also expressed her gratitude to The Mears Group saying "We are grateful to the team from Mears who work so hard to make this event a success every year. The annual lunch is a great way of staying connected with our group members and a lovely way to thank our volunteers and supporters."

After the meal, entertainment from local singer Mav, quickly had guests up dancing and singing along, before rounding off the afternoon with the raffle draw. Age UK Rotherham's guests had a wonderful time and one commented "Thank you so much. This is one of the highlights of my year, it's been brilliant again and I'm already looking forward to next year."

Anyone interested in finding out more about Age UK Rotherham's groups and activities can contact Maddie Leaper on 07988 638 355 madeleine.leaper@ageukrotherham.org