Chesterfield chef serving up free meals on Christmas Day – supporting people struggling financially and those spending the festive season alone

Cuba Bailey is a chef at Nonnas on Chatsworth Road. For the past two years, Cuba has been giving out free meals to people on Christmas Day – and he is preparing to do the same again.

Cuba said he was inspired to help others over the festive period by his grandmother – who was a chef herself – before she sadly passed away.

“The original reason I did it was in dedication to my grandma. She was the reason I got into cooking. She was a chef herself and she passed away the first year I did it.

“Typically we used to go and spend Christmas at her house, so I think we were all a bit lost as to what to do. I wanted to find something to fill the time.

“The first year we did it, the people who came were very grateful. A lot of them asked if we were doing it again next year and came back.

“The first year, we did 50 free meals, and last year, including deliveries, we got up to about 80. I’m hoping to reach the 100 mark this year.”

Cuba said his focus was not just on helping those who might be struggling financially, but also offering some support to those who might be alone over Christmas.

“It’s just the idea of making sure those people still had somewhere to go. A lot of it wasn’t so much people who were unable to afford it, but people who were spending Christmas by themselves.

“A lot of the people who came back last year had no one else to spend the day with. It kind of went through me a bit, the idea that I was leaving there to go and see my family on Christmas Day and have a meal with them, and a lot of people were leaving to go back and be by themselves.

“I just wanted to make sure they always had somewhere to go on a day that is so centred around being together.”

On December 25, between 12.00pm and 3.00pm, people can come to Nonnas and get a free meal. Cuba added that, for those who want to collect a meal beforehand, they can do so from December 23 until Christmas Day. Cuba said that any leftover food would be donated to the staff working on the 25th at Chesterfield Royal Hospital.

“People can get in touch to confirm their place, there is still plenty of space to come and there’s no need to text me in advance, they can just turn up on the day. It’s completely free of charge, there’s no need to pay for anything.

“Last year, I took the leftover food up to the hospital at Calow, and they were really appreciative of it. I’m going to do the same again and hopefully that’ll help them as well.

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“I’ve recently collaborated with the Lifehouse Church on Chatsworth Road. A lot of the food will be donated to the flood victims, so if anyone wants to donate, I would say to donate to their fund.”