By Carole Dennett
By Mal Butler
A couple who married on Christmas Eve gave up their Christmas Day to help serve lunch to 35 people who would otherwise be left on their own over the holiday.
Freshwater Independent Lifeboat Coxswain, Tony Moore, married Kelly Daniel at a packed St Saviour’s Church, Totland, and were given a guard of honour by the lifeboat crew as they left, headed for a reception in the adjoining Holy Family Centre.
The couple, who live in Freshwater Bay, first met on Christmas Day in 1993 and have been together for the last 10 years. Kelly, who is also a former lifeboat crew member, said: “We thought it was about time we tied the knot; we’ve known each other for so long!”
The couple then arranged the Christmas lunch for the following day, also in the Holy Family Centre, with Tony picking up and dropping off the guests.
Kelly added: “We’ve been doing this since 2018 and the lunch is for people who are on their own, so they can get together and celebrate.
“They said how much they appreciated it and all the volunteers enjoyed it as much as the people who attended. It’s just a nice community thing to do. We also sang a sing-song, with George King playing Christmas carols on the piano, so it made for a lovely occasion.
“We’d like to thank all the local people and businesses who gave us donations to subsidise the dinner; we even have a little left over to go towards next year.”
Tony added: “It was very touching when I dropped people off. They all told me they would have been on their own at Christmas without this lunch, so that made it all the more worthwhile.”