TRANSCRIPT
For those who celebrate, Christmas can be a special time to celebrate faith, engage in red-and-white festivities, or just share a meal and a gift or two with loved ones.
But for many vulnerable people around Australia, this holiday period can leave them feeling isolated and cut-off from the community.
In an effort to help counteract this, Wesley Mission are opening their doors to their church and conference centre in the heart of Sydney's CBD for a Christmas Day lunch for all.
The CEO, Reverend Stu Cameron, says they're sparing no expense in delivering a hearty Christmas meal.
"So we have some of our fabulous volunteers who are here today setting up for our Christmas day lunch. We'll have around 300 people packing out for a slap-up (meal/celebration) Christmas lunch: ham, turkey, prawn, salads, all the trimmings. That community of 300 people will be made up of people who own tech companies, people who are sleeping on the street. Some of our clients that we have the privilege of serving, all coming together around the table just to celebrate connection, celebrate the Christmas story, particularly for those who wouldn't otherwise have a place to go on Christmas Day; or can't afford to put food on the table."
Volunteering manager, Christine Ireland, says the event is free for those who don't have the financial means.
"If you're financially struggling, and this year is tough for a lot of people, you can absolutely come. There's no expectation. If you're able, you can purchase a ticket. And then of course, if you're not able to come, but you are in a financial position, you can plate it forward and purchase a ticket for someone else."
A couple of their young volunteers, Carter and Ved, couldn't be happier to be part of the preparations for the event.
VOXIE 1: "Yeah, I love it. I really like providing for other people that are less fortunate than I am. And I just really love helping out, especially with the atmosphere of everyone setting up the Christmas trees and all the decorations."
VOXIE 2: "I just really want to help the people who don't have a home and they can't celebrate Christmas. I just want to let them have at least one good lunch."
Wesley Mission's annual report for 2025 found that they helped 2,490 people across New South Wales who were experiencing - or at risk of homelessness.
They are also running a Christmas Appeal, calling on community members to donate to help provide emergency housing for survivors of domestic violence.
Chaplain Mark Coleman says Wesley Mission takes the Christmas message to be one of bringing community together and helping those who are doing it tough.
"So one of the beautiful things about this space is it's a space where all people can gather. People who are experiencing that financial difficulty, but also people who want to just share that joy of celebrating Christmas, sharing the love of Jesus here in this space. And it's a place where you don't have to be marked out as different. You can come and be a part of it and join in whoever you might be."
This sense of community can be one of the most beautiful aspects of this holiday season.
But Dr Michelle Lim, an associate professor at the University of Sydney and CEO of Ending Loneliness Together, says it's difficult for charity services to address the severity of the loneliness crisis - and how it can be worsened over the holiday season.
"So many Australians also do not have close family and friends around to share this festive season with. And in particular, many people as well who might say that they're single or perhaps that they're living away from their community - or they have family that lives overseas - often talk about how Christmas or holiday periods can be particularly isolating for them and therefore they might probably experience a higher rate of what we call episodic loneliness."
Dr Lim was the research lead on the 2023 State of the Nation Report into Social Connection in Australia, which found that almost one in three Australians who were surveyed reported problematic levels of loneliness; and one in six reported severe levels of loneliness.
She says it's an often stigmatised issue.
"We know things like loneliness in particular is highly stigmatised, even though it's highly prevalent and people don't want to talk about it. Australians who maybe have an existing health problem or disability or mobility issues might be particularly vulnerable during Christmas because as well, they might be seeing fewer people and there might be fewer services around."
Another charity group who are doing their best to offer a sense of community to those with disability over the Christmas period is Civic Disability Services.
Operations Manager, Katy Williams, says the shutdown of other critical services means their support workers often have to go above and beyond to help their clients.
"One of the things we recognise is people's mental health can decline steadily over the holidays, especially with the closure of services that normally are accessible. In fact, I was just talking to a gentleman who is having wheelchair problems, but the service that's offering him a lend of a wheelchair and servicing his other one is closed for two weeks. We're always there to support our people to get the help they need. So there's always somebody within the team, even if it has nothing to do with us - like wheelchair repair, but we would be there to assist them during these shutdowns."
Civic typically caters to over 800 people around New South Wales, offering supported accommodation, employment opportunities and NDIS services among other initiatives.
But CEO Annie Doyle says their support workers also work hard to make Christmas a special time of community for those living in their accommodation.
"So we have people with significant disability, intellectual disability predominantly. But a lot of them are now orphans because they've been in care for a long time. Christmas is quite challenging when you don't have family. And so a lot of what Civic does is around: we stand in effectively for those opportunities so that they feel like they are celebrating Christmas. It's not about the presents and the festivities itself, it's more about just sharing that time with other people, being special on the day."
Leading up to Christmas, support workers have sung carols with clients, created Christmas cards and helped decorate their homes for the festivities.
While workers will also offer Christmas meals on the day for those in supported accommodation, Ms Doyle says they also held a special group Christmas lunch so others could join in.
"We all got together, we had about 150 odd people there for the day. And we do all sorts of games. But what's most important is that we all sit down together and have a shared meal. We just love to have clients experience what it feels to be in a Christmas environment."
Ms Williams says she has taken time out of her own Christmas for her clients in the past - and its actions like that, which can remind people that they are not alone during this holiday period.
"For some of our participants, that might be the only sense of a Christmas meal they have. And it was really important to us to provide that. And recognising the fact that the ones who are kind of alone over Christmas, we ensure that those services continue. So it might be going out for a meal on Christmas Day, making sure that they have groceries in the lead up to Christmas Day; and making sure they remember that they're part of the community and they haven't been forgotten."
