News / charity
Trio cooking hundreds of festive meals for Bristol’s homeless
A group of friends are trying to make Christmas a tad merrier for homeless people in Bristol.
Brothers Matthew Cox and Dave Gorwell, and their friend Angela Phillips, spent several hours on Sunday preparing 200 festive meals for those in need from a kitchen at Ashton Gate.
The project has been supported by £600 in donations from well-wishers and complimentary resources from businesses like Jolly Hog and Buxton Butchers.
The trio started the mammoth task of preparing 200 Christmas meals on Sunday morning
The meals will be donated to Bristol-based charity Help Bristol’s Homeless and the Blonde Angel Street Team.
“My attitude is that I can’t help everybody, but I can help somebody,” said Matthew Cox, when speaking to Bristol24/7.
Funds for the initiative were donated by members of the Wetherspoons Game and Giveaway Facebook group, where strangers around the country buy each other meals and drinks as a gesture of kindness.
He continued: “At the end of the day, it’s not just me who is doing it. It’s everyone who has contributed via the group, who has donated and who always wants to help out.
“And that’s from all around the country.”
Some ingredients for the meals were donated by businesses in the region and others were purchased through funds from well-wishers
Matthew has used the Facebook group for donating meals in 2024 at V-Shed, a Wetherspoons on Canon’s Road.
The kind support from businesses across the region in 2025 meant the trio had leftover funds, which they now plan to use for buying toys for Bristol’s Children’s Hospital.
Both Matthew and his brother Dave work at Ashton Gate stadium and say they were very pleased that the stadium allowed them to do all the cooking in one of their kitchens.
Talking about the story behind the project, Matthew said: “In 2024, we did 200 burger meals at the V-Shed.
“In 2025, it was a suggestion from my brother to do it from Ashton Gate, where we already work.
“This way we can do it more cheaply, we can supply more meals, and it is sort of better value.”
Main photo: Matthew Cox
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