Thousands of people got some festive cheer as volunteers hosted free Christmas lunches in Sydney. Source: AAP
FROM back-alley barbecues and plates of sandwiches for a few needy people 50 years ago, Sydney's free Christmas Day lunch volunteers now feed and cheer up thousands.
Not even heavy downpours could dampen spirits at the free lunches in the city on Tuesday, hosted to help out the homeless, the hard-up and the lonely.
Reverend Graham Long of the Wayside Chapel at Potts Point said an annual Christmas Day street party had been hosted there since 1964.
"Originally it started out as a smallish barbecue in the back alley and it just grew over the years," he said.
An estimated 1000 people were fed on Tuesday.
New volunteer Sheila said it was her first time skipping Christmas Day mass, but she'd waited 35 years for an opportunity to contribute at Wayside.
"Just very gently, you've touched somebody in your life," she said.
Ken Sharpe, 80, said he thought the party was "a damn good idea".
"Look around - the feeling. As the daughter says, she hugs and kisses people that another time you'd cross the street to get away from," he told AAP.
"People should do good things for other people and they don't need religion as a crutch - they should just do it."
At a Christmas Day lunch at Ashfield in Sydney's inner west, the Exodus Foundation laid on more than 65 hams, 55 turkeys, 220 litres of gravy and 330 litres of custard to feed an expected 3000 people.
Reverend Bill Crews it was the foundation's 27th free Christmas Day lunch and each year there were increasing number of people turning up.
He said the annual lunch began with a plate of sandwiches for two lonely people 27 years ago and this year was set to be the biggest yet.
"Just because you're lonely or you can't afford Christmas doesn't mean you have to go without," Reverend Crews said.
At Eveleigh in inner Sydney the Salvation Army's Streetlevel Mission fed about 1500 people in its 16th year of operation, with 150 volunteers giving part of their day to help out.
Meanwhile, thousands of worshippers attended church services across the state.
It was standing room only at St Mary's Cathedral for the morning service led by the Catholic Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell.
In his homily, Cardinal Pell said the birth of Jesus contained a message "that produces love and goodness".
"This baby did grow up to redeem us by his life, death and resurrection," he said.
Outside church, one worshipper, Sean, said the service was a chance to connect with his family's past.
"My father has always come, my grandfather has always come, and my son has decided he wants to come - it goes back generations," he said.
Sydney's St Andrew's Cathedral hosted a Lord's supper on Tuesday morning, followed by services through the day, including an address by Anglican Archbishop Peter Jensen.
In his annual Christmas message released earlier, he said Christmas was a time to fix feuds and forgive.
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