Charity directors swap boardroom for kitchen

Top executives at a Midlands-based charity pulled on their aprons and Santa hats to serve up some festive cheer to homeless people in Birmingham.

A group of executive and senior managers from Trident Reach the People Charity prepared, cooked and served up Christmas dinner to more than 100 people at the charity’s Washington Court homeless service.

They spent hours cooking up a three-course feast, including Caribbean and halal variations, before serving meals over the course of two sittings for homeless people in the city, including customers from Washington Court and other Trident Reach homeless projects.

Washington Court, in Granville Street, offers support and short-term accommodation for homeless people. It has space for 98 customers at one time and helps around 1,200 people a year.

Anthony McCool, charity lead at Trident Reach, said: “Homelessness is very much a year-round issue but it is during the cold months of winter and as Christmas approaches, that people’s thoughts turn to those less fortunate than themselves.

“Cooking and serving up Christmas dinner for our customers today is a way of reaching out to the people we work throughout the year to help and supporting our homeless service teams, as well as being a hands-on reminder for us all of what we are about.”