Carer Rosie Owen is planning to forgo her Christmas Day family lunch and wants others to join her.

Miss Owen, of Potterne, has provisionally booked the Nursteed Centre in Devizes to host a party for elderly people who live on their own.

She said: “My 21-year-old son and I volunteered at a Christmas Day meal last year at the Cheese and Grain hall in Frome and it was a great day. There was music and a band and gifts from shops.

“I think Christmas has become too materialistic and has lost its meaning. That’s why I want to put on this event for older people who are on their own.

“I am in the early stages of planning it, but I will need volunteers to help and would love to get sponsorship from companies to cover the cost, which I expect to be a couple of thousand pounds.

“There will be a lot of work on Christmas Eve in preparing the vegetables and cooking the meat and we will need people to serve the food and drinks on the day.”

Miss Owen, who is a housing support warden at sheltered housing scheme Angell House in Bromham, said she was meeting Age UK Wiltshire to help identify people who might want to attend the lunch.

If you want to help, call Miss Owen on 07882 283899.