Families struggling to pay for a traditional festive dinner can have a meal for free after a school decided to open its doors on Christmas Day.
Park Community School in Portsmouth will serve up turkey and all the trimmings to around 60 children, along with their families and pensioners.
The secondary, which describes itself as "more than a school", has a catchment area in one of the city's most deprived neighbourhoods, Leigh Park.
It has "significant levels of need" and was once home to the largest council estate in Europe.
Teachers help pay for the Christmas meal, along with donations from local people and well-wishers.
Volunteers give up their time to serve the food and presents for the children are paid for by local firms.
There will even be a visit from Santa himself.
Last year, headteacher Christopher Anders said: “Christmas brings pressures for families on low incomes. On Christmas Day at least we will know they are well fed.
"Without it some in our community could miss out.
“For some it is the only proper traditional dinner they will be getting. The focus is on doing the best for our children and trying to do all we can for the community.
“For a number of our children the food they eat at school is really important to them, they may not eat something healthy at other points of the day.”
The school already has an award-winning scheme to make sure no child goes hungry during the holidays.
This has been hailed as a "lifeline" by many parents and it aims to make sure youngsters have access to nutritious meals, even out of term-time.
The school is rated “good” by watchdog Ofsted and inspectors last year noted “pupils are rightly proud of their school and their achievements.”
Top charities praised the efforts but the National Education Union said they highlight “a frightening level of deep-rooted poverty”.
Alison Garnham, Chief Executive of the Child Poverty Action Group, said: “Times are tough for families struggling to make ends meet and for some there will be a real shortage of Christmas cheer.
“It’s great that some schools are opening their doors to put on a festive celebration for the community and that children can enjoy themselves in a familiar environment – three cheers for them!
“However, we know that things have got really bad when it falls to schools, who themselves are facing cuts, to patch up the holes in the safety net.
“All children and their families should have an adequate income to be able to celebrate Christmas at home – it used to be possible to put away some cash every week for festivities, but incomes are now so low families can barely make ends meet week by week.
“If austerity is really over, there wouldn’t be the increasing child poverty and hardship we are witnessing as 2018 draws to a close.”
