Every year, volunteers provide Christmas dinner to hundreds of people around Dublin and this year several charities are set to continue the tradition by offering dinners and other essential items.
This year also marks the return of some groups inviting people to dine on location for Christmas Day, which has not happened in almost two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Many families are also struggling this Christmas due to the cost of living crisis, and this year several charities are also aiming to help them get through the winter.
Here are all the organisations, charities and groups around Dublin who are planning on hosting a Christmas Day Dinner, soup kitchen, foodbank and more over Christmas:
Read more: Christmas Eve opening hours for Tesco, Lidl, Aldi, Dunnes and Supervalu
The Knights of St Columbanus Christmas Dinner at the RDS
The 98th Christmas Day Dinner by the Knights of St. Columbanus for the poor and homeless of Dublin will be held in the RDS this Christmas, December 25, after two years of Covid restrictions. They will provide a three-course meal of soup, Christmas dinner, Christmas pudding and mild refreshments for up to 550 poor and homeless of Dublin City.
With the assistance of St. Vincent de Paul, Simon, Alone, Age Action, Dublin City and other groups who provide transport, volunteers will provide over 4,000 takeaway meals and “goody bags” containing food, toiletries, soft drinks and household products for the following days, which will be delivered to people who need it in their own homes. This year, there will be a warm and spiritual welcome for members of the Ukrainian community who have confirmed that they will be attending the dinner.
Entrance to the RDS is from Anglesea Road, and the Christmas Day dinner will start from 11am.
Muslim Sisters of Éire soup kitchen
The Muslim Sisters of Eire is an independent group of Muslim women living in Ireland who volunteer their time to providing support to vulnerable women and those in need. Every Christmas is a busy time for the charity, and in recent weeks during the cold snap they gave out sleeping bags, hats and scarves to those in need.
The Muslim Sisters of Eire run a soup kitchen giving out food to the homeless every Friday evening outside the GPO in Dublin, which starts at 6pm. They will be running their soup kitchen this Friday, 23 December from 6pm outside the GPO.
This Christmas, the Muslim Sisters of Eire are running a 'Bags for Life' fundraiser to create 200 bags of essential supplies to hand out on Christmas Eve. Fifty volunteers from the charity will hand out bags containing tents, blankets, hats and gloves and scarves, protein bars and hygiene kits for those sleeping rough.
Capuchin Day Centre
The Capuchin Day Centre located on Bow Street in Smithfield is preparing for a busy Christmas week. On Tuesday, around 3,000 people are expected to pick up their Christmas hampers and vouchers after a large crowd turned up last week to get tickets.
The Capuchin Centre provides a food service from Monday to Saturday inclusive (including bank holidays), with breakfast served from 8am to 11:30am and lunch served from 12:30 to 3:30pm. They also give out food parcels every Wednesday morning from 8am to 11:30am.
D8 Foodbank
The D8 Foodbank was set up by Liberties locals Fran, Margaret, Vivienne, Phyllis, Lily and Maura during the Covid-19 pandemic, and the food bank is supported by FoodCloud, who arrive with deliveries before 1pm every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
Feed Our Homeless
Feed Our Homeless operate a soup kitchen service three times weekly every Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday evening outside Bank of Ireland across from Trinity college from 7pm to 10:30pm. Volunteers offer
hot food, sandwiches, hot drinks, chocolate, treats, etc to people and families effected by homelessness.
Feed Our Homeless is also operating a foodbank this Christmas week to give food to families and the homeless.
READ NEXT:
- Gardai called to manage crowd of thousands in Christmas hamper queue at homeless day centre
- 'Some older folks have queued since 7am' - an afternoon with a Dublin food bank
- 24-hour carolathon returns to Grafton Street and O'Connell street
- '20 of us sleep together for warmth by Connolly Station': The homeless freezing on Dublin streets
- Social welfare Christmas dates confirmed including 'double payment' week
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