They are organising a free community lunch to take place on Christmas Day through The Olive Branch Church of Christ.

Taking place at 12pm on December 25 at the Alexandra Oval Community Centre, the lunch will bring together members of the community whose family may be far away or who might otherwise be alone on Christmas Day.

The lunch is open to everyone and all are welcome.

Both organisers and their helpers are giving up their own Christmas Day lunches in order to run the event, which they said was helped along by synchronicity.

Each organiser said that they had thought of the idea separately before approaching the other and finding out they were thinking the same thing. 

“It must be meant to happen,” Ms Warner said.

“We’ve got to do it now.”

Ms Wong said the lunch will welcome anyone who may struggle around Christmas, no matter what the reason.

“You might be in difficult circumstances. It’s easy to get into Christmas and then not be able to afford it for your family because times are hard,” she said.

“For a lot of people at Christmas they just might be on their own, and that’s a really depressing thought. 

“So just being able to be together with some other people, and someone who cares … as opposed to just sitting at home on the lounge with the TV and having a pot noodle.”

Ms Warner agreed.

“There are just so many people who are quiet and may not realise they are lonely,” she said.

“It could be people who are loaded with money but Christmas Day just may not be a good day for them.”

Both the organisers said they weren’t looking for additional volunteers or donations as they were already organised ahead of the day.

They also thanked Ararat Rural City Council, who has donated use of the Alexandra Oval Community Centre for the event.

They both said they would consider running the event annually if this year is a success.

“We’lll see how this goes – it’s a big thing to do on Christmas Day. It would be nice to but it takes a lot of organising,” Ms Wong said.

Numbers are capped at 50 and RSVPs for the event need to be made by Tuesday December 18.

To RSVP, call 0427 678 705.