VOLUNTEERS have rescued Christmas day for at least 60 people living in the Tavistock area after a seasonal treat for elderly residents went to the wall for the second year running because of the covid pandemic.

Rotary club volunteers moved swiftly after the traditional Christmas day lunch for elderly people living on their own at the town’s United Reformed Church (URC) became one of the latest victims of the new Omicron variant of Covid-19.

With new infections going through the roof, Rotary club organisers reluctantly agreed to shelve the Christmas lunch on Friday as they did not want to put elderly residents at risk of catching the virus.

But by Monday, lunch was back on the menu for the 60 people who would have missed out on a rare day out after the local Rotary Club festive team hammered out a new plan to deliver dinner to their door.

The Tavistock Locals Help group set up their Christmas treats campaign last year when the URC lunch was cancelled for the same reason as this year.

That campaign saw dozens of volunteers ensuring that people who would have normally attended the URC lunch get food, gifts and, crucially, company during the festive season.

Volunteers also discovered other families who were in need of some good cheer as they suffered the financial fall-out created by the pandemic and delivered goodies to their door. A similar campaign this year was set up by rotarian Graham Parker, one of the driving forces behind last Christmas’ scheme.

Tavistock Rotary club secretary Judy Hirst said the club was ‘desperately disappointed’ that they were unable to run the Christmas lunch for the second year running. But Mrs Hirst, who joined forces with Mr Parker to save 60 local people’s Christmas, said the situation had been plucked from disaster in the space of a few days.

She said: ‘We took the decision on Friday that the lunch couldn’t go ahead because of the risks surrounding the increase in covid cases. We were not willing to put people at risk, although we are desperately disappointed it is not going ahead for the second year running. By Monday, because of the hard work of my team and the help of the organisers of the treats campaign, we made sure those 60 people would not miss out and they would receive lunch delivered to their home instead. It’s a tribute to everyone involved that we have got everything organised in the space of a few days.’

Mr Parker said he was delighted to work with Rotary members to make sure more people were fed at Christmas. Mr Parker said: ‘It was a great shame that the URC lunch had to be cancelled, but I feel there was really no choice since the infection rate in the area is really high at the moment and I think it’s the sensible thing to do.

‘I don’t think anyone could have lived with themselves had the event gone ahead and somebody who attended contracted covid. There were 60 people who could have missed out on their lunch this year and I and the Rotary club members were determined that was not going to happen.’

Mr Parker said that the response from local volunteers to help with the project had been incredible, as it was last year. He said: ‘Like last year, I had to turn volunteers away because in the end we had more than enough.’