Celebrity chef Marcus Bean cooks up a storm at Shrewsbury Ark
The smell of Christmas dinner whipped up by a celebrity chef wafted around Shrewsbury's day centre for the homeless and rough sleepers.
For the seventh year in a row, Marcus Bean cooked up a festive storm in the modest kitchen at The Ark for its users and volunteers.
Marcus, owner of Brompton Cookery, said: "I drove past the Ark one year and ended up sending them a message asking what I could do to help. I offered to make them all Christmas lunch and they accepted so it's carried on from there.
"It's just my way of doing my little bit and giving something back. It's lovely to do something for the people in the town who need it but also for the wonderful volunteers - they deserve it.
"All of the crockery and cutlery is loaned by Tipples and at the end of the day, I load up the dirty dishes in the back of my car and take it back so the volunteers can relax and not even have to worry about cleaning up.
"I was up until 2am the night before prepping everything, and even though the kitchen is small I know it quite well now, having done it for so many years."
Root vegetable soup, a turkey dinner and sticky toffee pudding with chantilly cream was on the menu on Thursday afternoon.
For some, it will be the only hot meal they have over Christmas.
Douglas Ryan, 56, said: "This dinner means quite a lot to me. It's always good food but I also come for the social aspect. Many of us don't have proper families to have Christmas dinner with but in a way, these people are my family.
"My favourite part is always the roast potatoes and the turkey. I really appreciate all that they do for me at The Ark."
