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£25,000 target raised for Poet Laureate’s Christmas Dinner project

Kallie Worsfold 410 Views ,  ,  , 

The £25,000 target on Crowdfunder has been raised for Canterbury’s Poet Laureate Lemn Sissay.

Generosities of the public managed to raise £27,928 of the £25,000 target in just six weeks.

The Christmas Dinner is an annual project created by Mr Sissay, for communities to provide a special Christmas Day for care leavers aged between 18 and 25.

This year it will be hosted in Canterbury for the first time, as Sissay is now working with the city after being announced as Canterbury’s Poet Laureate in April.

The Canterbury public have been donating money to support the Christmas Dinner, as well as gifts for the care leavers.

Beth Cuenco, Director of Wise Words and volunteer on the Steering Group told The Canterbury Hub:

The people of Canterbury gave generously to the Christmas Dinner Crowdfunder run by the Lemn Sissay Foundation, helping it exceed its target of £25,000.

This money is there to support the twelve Christmas Dinners being run across the UK with any funds that are not needed this year being carried forward to support the Christmas Dinners in 2018. Here in Canterbury we have been struck by how quickly each appeal for support has been met. Every time we put out a call for a main present whether it be a spa day, a pair of trainers or someone to help fix up a young person’s bike, our call has been answered almost as soon as we ask.’’

If you want to help please get in touch by going to the Canterbury Christmas Dinner Facebook page.