FOR THE last three years Everest Community Academy has hosted a Christmas banquet for over 65s in the community.

We decided to interview food tech teacher, Karen Newman, who organises this event to get the sticky details, and we are not just talking about the pudding.

When interviewing Miss Newman, we asked why she goes out her way to host this event to which she replied “we do it to give back to the community and to show how talented our students are at Everest”.

She then added that her favourite part of this event was “watching the students interact with the over 65s and gaining confidence in their cooking abilities”.

She also admitted her inspiration was to create an event that would show both the school and community spirit at Christmas.

Local businesses and members of staff donated raffle prizes to cover the cost of catering ingredients for the event. For example, Warburton’s donated fresh bread.

We spoke to some of the Year 9 students who had taken part in preparing and cooking for the marvellous lunch about what they liked most about this experience.

Some of them said that they liked gaining confidence and others said helping out the community and seeing people enjoying the Christmas spirit.

Entertainment was provided by Merton Junior School singing a selection of Christmas songs.

It was safe to say that everyone had a good time and that the seniors went home with a full stomach, some new friends and a grin on their faces.

By Courtney Little and Bethany Fletcher