AS CHRISTMAS dinner is being served up this year comedian Kojo Anim told The Voice he will be most thankful ‘for still being here, still being able to do what I love and for all the amazing people in my life who keep me going’.
This year’s festive season does feel a little bit more special given the circumstances the world has faced over the last 21-months and everybody is looking forward to spending time with their family and loved ones.
Anim, however, will still be working, kind of.
In a bid to spread seasonal cheer you might see his face pop up in association with the recent Deliveroo Christmas Cracking Hunger Campaign, which sees the food delivery company sell charity crackers to support The Felix Project and FareShare.
Sharing what Christmas means to him and how his love affair with the annual time of gift giving started as a child, Anim said: “My fondest Christmas memory is when I was a kid our in our house we used to have a room called ‘The Play Room’ where all our games and computer stuff was kept.
“Every Christmas that room would be locked with everyone’s gifts from the beginning of December till Christmas Day and we would all try and find excuses to go in there because we couldn’t wait to see what we got. We were allowed to open one gift on Christmas Eve.”
Ahead of Christmas the Britain’s Got Talent finalist teamed up with Deliveroo to launch a special range of charity Christmas crackers called ‘Crackers Cracking Hunger’, to help provide crucial meals for families in need.
Aiming to make crackers mean more this Christmas, instead of finding throwaway toys inside of them, customers will find a Christmas hat and a joke written by Anim who is backing the campaign.
He enthused: “I love Christmas, so when Deliveroo asked me to get involved in supporting FareShare and The Felix Project, helping households in need this December, I couldn’t say no.
“I always say my gift is to tell jokes but my purpose is to help people.”.
He added: “Deliveroo is a brand that really has become a central part of our communities across the country over the past few years and even more so during Covid-19.
“It’s brilliant to think we can collaborate to give the ultimate gift to those in need – food – which will hopefully give some festive joy to those facing tough times. That’s what Christmas is all about for me.”
Anim, who grew up in foster care and spent many years volunteering at homeless kitchens at Christmas says, “I know what it’s like to feel desperate and be the one crying on your knees.
“Before Britain’s Got Talent, I was exhausted and fed up and things could have easily gone downhill – it’s scary how quickly things can escalate for people.”
“I’m lucky because I’ve always had close family and friends around me and while we weren’t well off growing up, our community was what made us stronger, particularly around the festive season.
“I know not everyone has that and what I love about this campaign is that it does more than just deliver a Christmas meal to someone in need – it brings the community to them.”
‘Crackers Cracking Hunger’ is part of Deliveroo’s wider charity initiative, ‘Full Life’ which helps to deliver meals to people in need throughout the year and use Deliveroo’s unique network for good and play its part in supporting the communities in which we work.
The organisation is on track to deliver its pledge of one million meals to people in need, with over 800,000 meals already delivered.
Looking ahead to his own Christmas day feast Anim says there is one dish that has to have pride and place among all of the others.
“The one meal that just had to be in the Christmas dinner table is my aunts Macaroni and cheese with minced meet at the bottom of it. Everyone’s knows to take their share first because I won’t be saving anything after I serve myself. Lol.”
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