The Christmas party at the Oasis St Martin’s Village hub in Tulse Hill was the first ever ‘Together at Christmas’ community meal – one of a series of pilot events taking place over the 2025 festive season, that organisers hope will become 1,000 meals by next Christmas
08:00, 02 Jan 2026
Off a busy main road in South London, in one the most capital’s most deprived postcodes, the Christmas cheer is turned up to eleven. The tea urn is switched on, and a long table is laden with food from cheese sandwiches to a beetroot cake, to plates piled high with houmous and olives. A Christmas tree is twinkling in one corner, while a giant tropical fig has also been covered in festive lights.
The Christmas party at the Oasis St Martin’s Village hub in Tulse Hill, is also the start of something bigger. This is the first ever ‘Together at Christmas’ community meal – one of a series of pilot events taking place over the 2025 festive season, that organisers hope will become 1,000 meals by next Christmas.
In recent weeks, church and other faith leaders have been concerned by attempts by the Far Right to politicise and even ‘weaponise’ Christmas. “Many of us right across the UK are concerned that our society is becoming increasingly divided,” says Steve Chalke MBE, a British Baptist minister and the founder of the Oasis Charitable Trust. “We’re troubled as we see a rising tide of fear, loneliness, blame, marginalisation, intimidation and even open hostility.”
Chalke is one of a growing number of grassroots leaders, faith groups, charities and businesses behind We Are United, formed to bring communities together against a rising tide of isolation and polarisation. “Together at Christmas is the movement’s first national initiative — a warm, community-led invitation to connection, belonging and hope,” Chalke explains. “Rather than respond with debate or division, We Are United chose something much older and more powerful – sharing a meal.
“It’s our hope that next Christmas today’s meal will be replicated in over 1,000 villages, towns and cities – and for more Christmases to come.” Meals bringing neighbours together are free to attend, as people from across the community share food, each other’s company and stories – supported by local volunteers, and community partners who share the belief that no one should feel alone or unwelcome, particularly at Christmas.
“Christmas can be joyful, but for many it can also be tough – lonely, stretched, or overwhelming,” said Chalke says. “This isn’t just a meal – it’s an act of community. It’s about saying, ‘you matter, you belong, and no-one here is left out’.”
In December, far-right activist Tommy Robinson – whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon – led a carol concert event in Central London “to put the Christ back into Christmas”. As hymn sheets were handed out to the crowd, Robinson declared “a new Christian revival in the UK – a moment to reclaim and celebrate our heritage, culture and Christian identity”.
The incoming archbishop of Canterbury, Dame Sarah Mullally, warned in her Christmas Day sermon that “our national conversations about immigration continue to divide us, when our common humanity should unite us”. The Church of England has launched a poster campaign in bus stops across the UK aimed at remembering the compassion at the heart of the Christian message. “Christ has always been in Christmas”, the posters say. “Outsiders welcome”.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan – who the Far Right claimed has ‘cancelled Christmas’ in the capital – gave the lesson at his own Mayor’s annual Christmas Carol Concert in Southwark Cathedral, with the message ‘Love Thy Neighbour’. “This Christmas, Jesus’ call to open our hearts feels more important than ever,” the Mayor said.
The last week has seen ‘Together at Christmas’ events taking place all over the country. From Hull in Yorkshire to Slough in Berkshire to London’s Waterloo. Julie Siddiqi MBE, Lady Mayoress of Slough Borough Council and community leader at the town’s Britwell centre, says the meals are a way of responding to those trying to use Christmas to divide communities.
“I love this idea, because I don’t want to be against something – I want to be for something,” Siddiqi says. “I don’t want to be dictated to by hate. In our national politics, we have elected politicians saying stuff that is very damaging and divisive. Things that were fringe ideas have become part of our national conversation.
“In truth, we really need each other. People need people. We just need to help each other. When people come together, they find they have more in common than they thought. People are worried about the same stuff. Where their kids are going to school, whether their kids eating are properly, how to control screen time. They aren’t talking about international politics.
“What I notice when I work at our community centre is that no one cares about my headscarf. When we’re helping each other, we don’t notice differences.” At Tulse Hill, Christoff Taylor, founder of the charity, Young Creatives UK and a former gang member, surveys the room. “If I say that a Muslim, a Christian and a Jew came together it sounds like the start of a bad joke,” he says. “But it should be normal.”
Christoff rebuilt his life through film-making, a talent that led to his involvement with the MOBO awards and to working with Jamie Oliver. His charity works with young people vulnerable to gang involvement, giving them a creative pathway. But even Kristoff, with first-hand knowledge of London’s gang dynamics, urged all the young people he mentors to avoid central London on the day of the “Unite the Kingdom” march, fearing what might unfold.
“We need to bring people together,” he says. “The young people we work with grow up with racism and inequality. I’ve had children I work with die since I started working in this sector. That’s the reality. We need to come together.” Some 200 miles north in Hull, the Oasis Church hall is holding a community Christmas dinner for 110 people, serving 95 Christmas meals. “We’ve had people attending from retired adults born in Hull to families from Romania, Poland, Nigeria and India, as well as some of the homeless community and regulars of our food club,” says Claire Thomas, Hub leader.
“It’s been a joy to see so many people from different backgrounds, some of them trying out pulling a Christmas cracker for the first time.” The Waterloo Hub Christmas Meal saw scores of people gather at the kitchen and community fridge project in the heart of London.
In Slough, the Oasis Britwell Hub saw a three-course meal cooked for 85 people. Hosted by AJ Café, food ranged from an Algerian soup starter to a traditional turkey Christmas dinner with all the trimmings to Asian desserts. 200 people attended the evening charity gala.
The Oasis Academy in Oldham (no pics) dedicated much of the last two weeks of term to celebrating Christmas. Gemma Bolton-Hale, curriculum leader for PSHE said young people spoke about how to combat division and isolation. “Humans have always been good at creating myths, that’s part of who we are,” says Steve Chalke. “But we shouldn’t let others tell us what to think. We think that by sharing simple, welcoming, locally-owned meals, we can bring together people of different faiths, different ages, different ideas to have dialogue over food and music. It sounds so basic. But it’s a powerful idea.”
*To register your interest in organising a ‘We Are United - Together At Christmas’ event for next Christmas, email peopleunite@oasisuk.org
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