Serving up a Christmas feast for those in need

A burger shack owner has crowdfunded his way to feeding the homeless and lonely on Christmas Day, and now other businesses have got on board too.
Trollburger will be serving up a festive feast for the homeless and those in need on Christmas DayTrollburger will be serving up a festive feast for the homeless and those in need on Christmas Day
Trollburger will be serving up a festive feast for the homeless and those in need on Christmas Day

Paul Clark, the owner of Trollburger, a burger shack on Trafalgar Street, turned to crowdfunding with a target of £500 to serve burgers and chips to those in need on Christmas Day.

He said: “I never really enjoy Christmas that much. I hate watching television, Christmas music drives me insane and I’m not happy unless I’m doing something.

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“Last Christmas I remember thinking ‘I’d rather be at work flipping patties’ so this year I decided to make that a reality and give something back to the community.”

After posting a JustGiving link on social media, the initiative quickly went viral, and at the time of writing had raised £2,060, four times the target of £500.

Before long many others were inspired to join the project and offer help.

Rebecca Letchford of Honeycomb Cakes agreed to provide Christmas brownies and hot drinks, Maria Aurora the manager of Brewdog Brighton is helping to serve up the burgers and

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Fayaz Amlani of Kitgum has agreed to provide a sound system.

What started as a simple gesture has turned into a full scale Christmas Day street party, Mr Clark said.

Anyone is welcome to attend the Christmas Day feast from 4pm, and everything is free but there will be a suggested donation of £10 for anyone who can afford it.

Any profits will be donated to First Base in Hove, a local homeless charity.

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“I decided to make the event open to everyone, rather than simply target the homeless community,” Mr Clark said.

“All too often we regard the homeless as a separate ‘other’ entity, when in fact many of us are just two pay cheques away from being homeless ourselves.

“I wanted to remove those barriers and labels that we have created to separate us this Christmas and bring everyone together for one event.”

To find out more about the event, and to donate to the cause, visit: www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/paul-clark-793