Great gesture: local food shelter the beneficiary after Newcastle is frozen off

Newcastle’s disappointment at seeing a busy pre-Christmas jumps meeting frozen off on Thursday was soon replaced with a goodwill gesture that went down a storm in the local community.

Around 200 sandwiches, rolls and wraps, which were heading for the waste bin when the meeting failed a morning inspection, were instead donated to local charity The People’s Kitchen, which has been supporting homeless and disadvantaged people in Newcastle for more than 30 years.

“We wanted to make the best of a bad situation when we found at 7.30am we were abandoned,” said the track’s head of marketing Max McCall.

“There was lots of fresh food which had been prepared for the stewards and raceday staff and it was in danger of going to waste.

“Instead we looked to turn it into something positive and contacted The People’s Kitchen, which is a food shelter close to St James' Park. It was making good a day that had started so gloomy, and it’s been well received in the local area.”

Hospitality bookings, on what is always a popular meeting for Christmas functions at Newcastle, included a party of 200 from Durham County Cricket Club and McCall added: “It was going to be a very busy day and we had some big bookings, but it’s onwards and upwards.”

Newcastle was not the only fixture lost to the elements on Thursday, with Warwick’s jumps meeting called off due to snow on the back straight.

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