A community Christmas lunch in Malmesbury has been saved.

Arrangements for the annual HEALS ‎Christmas Community Lunch were rocked last

week when the chef's mother died suddenly, with her funeral taking place on the same day.

With the chef now attending the funeral, it left the community lunch with no chef to bring the event together.

Since an appeal was launched by The Standard to find a replacement volunteer chef, the charity has had seven chefs come forward offering their assistance on the day.

HEALS chair Gavin Grant said: "We are going with a chef from Charlton called Johnathan English who was the first to respond and are now finalising plans and mobilising our volunteers ready for Friday 21st."

This year, the event is set for a record number of 90 guests with a great group of volunteers to help put it all together.

Funding for the lunch is also coming into place, with the charity receiving tremendous support from the town.

"We got a much welcome cheque for £500 from Paul Hyams on Friday who wanted to give something in memory of his late mother Joan," Gavin continued.

"We netted £400 from our childrens' and bottle tombola stalls at late night shopping on Friday and last week collected a cheque from Malmesbury Carnival to go towards our pantomime trip this coming Saturday.

"We've also recently been given £150 from McGills Chartered Accountants in Malmesbury and Waitrose shoppers' green tokens have notched up £240, with both going towards the lunch."