'It's good to be kind': Family hosts free Christmas event

A family from Nelson, who have decorated their house with festive lights and inflatables, plan to give away dozens of free food parcels to those in need over this Christmas period.

Joanne Bridge says she and her husband Andrew recognise "things are hard for people," and they want to provided an alternative to costly winter events.

The Bridges Who stole Christmas event has been running since 2022, and includes marshmallow toasting outside Santa's grotto and an opportunity to meet the Grinch.

Courtney Fielding attended the event on Wednesday and said: "It's amazing, there's nothing ever like this around Nelson. It's nice for the community how they do it for free."

The Bridges, who host the meet-the-Grinch event, work closely with their neighbours, the Meadway family, who joined the event in 2023 and now host Santa's grotto.

The Bridges give out food hampers, while the Meadways offer free presents to parents who may not be able to afford to buy their children something at Christmas.

Andrew Meadway said: "There's no judgement, they can come and take what they need for their families. And that way, no kid should go without a present this year."

For the Bridges, inspiration came from their grandchildren, who loved that they went all out on Christmas decorations.

Joanne said she was not sure if the first event would go well. "I didn't think anyone would show up," she said. "But, as soon as we opened the front door, a bunch of kids came running."

As the event grew, people asked Joanne if they could donate money, but she said the family were not interested in benefiting.

Instead, the family asked for food that could be donated, anything the family "could make up food hampers with, and distribute to people struggling," she said.

This year, the Bridges aimed to distribute 80 parcels in total, but they have already distributed 41 in their first week.

The handing over of food parcels could be "quite emotional for some, some embarrassment," Joanne said, but "we just go with smiles and joy and we are happy to be helping people out".

Meanwhile, the Meadways have handed out dozens of presents in Santa's grotto, as well as 13 toy packages, with another five to be delivered soon.

The star of the display is a two-storey high inflatable Grinch, who looms over the hedge at the front of the house.

Niveya, one of the children in attendance, was full of praise for the display: "It's really good, and it's amazing how they put it up. It looks really good."

Siblings Benjamin Samuel and Billy were also there. "It's amazing, it's proper good." "It's good to make kids happy."

The food hampers contain longlife foods like coffee, pasta and cereal. The food packages are placed in a washing up bowl, and wrapped in clear plastic tied with ribbon.

Notes on the parcels read: "Merry Christmas. In a world where you can be anything, be kind. From our family to yours. #merrybridgemas."

The final event for the year is scheduled for Wednesday, between 18:30 and 19:30 GMT.

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