12:00pm Friday 25th December 2009
By Sarah Cosgrove
PENSIONERS were given a festive treat this week when a pub offered free food and drink to its older customers.
Publican Philip Parsons, 42, invoked the spirit of Christmas by letting the beer flow freely and offering a selection of party nibbles to his guests at the Edge of Town Pub in Station Road, Edgware.
He said: “It's our first official Christmas party and they were all very pleased with it although illness and the bad weather did keep some of them away.”
Mr Parsons said his older customers had “community spirit.”
“We always look after our pensioners as they're important to the community.
“Too many people spend too much time focussing on younger people.
“At the end of the day it's also a nice way of keeping an eye on the people who may be sick or living alone. One gentleman is from Newcastle and comes in here and he was in hospital recently.
“His family weren't around but we were able to visit him.
It's nice to keep in touch with people and it keeps the pensioners active as well.”
Partygoer John Johnston, 71, from Bushfield Crescent on the Broadfields Estate said it had been “an excellent party”.
“We had a really good time and they put on a really good spread.
“We had quite a few beers, it was really well done.”
Mr Johnston, added: “John's very good to us pensioners. He's always doing something for charity or collecting for someone who's sick.”
Mr Parsons said he was planning a much bigger party next year after catering companies had volunteered to bring round hot food and a friend with a minibus had offered to act as a taxi service.
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