PEOPLE who would normally spend the big day alone had a very merry Christmas thanks to volunteers at Penningtons Tea Room and food donations from Journal readers.

The annual free Christmas dinner at the community hub was on the verge of having to be cancelled before the Journal launched a front page appeal for food donations to stop Christmas being ruined for a group of people who live alone and rely on the service.

The Friends of Pennington Hall Park, who run the café, were overwhelmed with the response to the appeal, which not only ensured that the free dinner went ahead but that it was the ‘best one ever’.

Chairwoman Trish Taylor said: “After the appeal in the Journal we were inundated with offers of food, which included everything from turkeys to mince pies and tablecloths to decorations.

“People were bringing in things without us asking them and the Christmas dinner ended up being the best one ever.

“We also had a lot more people calling us and asking if they could come along following the appeal. We could easily have filled the place three times over, but unfortunately we only had enough space for 28 diners.

“I want to say a big thank you to all the people who gave us donations to make the day happen.

“I also want to say a big thank you to the Journal, which truly put us on the map.”

Prior to the appeal donations to the café had dried up after the Journal revealed in November that Wigan Council intends to sell or lease the popular café through a community asset transfer.