Inverkip Hotel stages free festive lunch for villagers

Around 30 grateful guests tucked into a three-course meal, as a gesture of goodwill from the popular family business to the local community.

The lunch was followed by a visit from schoolchildren from nearby Inverkip Primary Schooll who delighted their audience as they sang a medley of songs.

Richard Dunn, hotel manager, said it was his wife Holly's idea and they both wanted to make sure that the hotel was at the heart of the community.

Richard told the Tele: "Inverkip is a close knit community, the village has grown over the years but the community spirit is still there.

"It was such a nice atmosphere at the meal. We had a lady here called Helen Howie, who is 93 and is from one of the original farming families.

"We also have some ladies who used to work for my father-in-law some fifty years ago."

The icing on the cake was when some children from the P5 class at the nearby school donned tinsel and Santa hats and came to visit the guests and provide some seasonal entertainment for them.

They had everyone clapping along as they performed Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer plus an enthusiastic version of Santa Claus is Coming to Town, complete with all the actions.

There was barely a dry eye in the hotel when the children then sang Silent Night, before their performance ended on a high note with a jolly rendition of Jingle Bells.

The children then deservedly enjoyed a hot chocolate and left with a book as a reward for all their efforts.

The event went so well that the hotel now plans to make the festive meal an annual event.