A festive event is returning to Liverpool this year with a few changes introduced
Rainbow Toffees Christmas organisers Paul Hession and Mary Shinks
Rainbow Toffees Christmas organisers Paul Hession and Mary Shinks
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A community outreach group is hosting its annual Christmas event, this time with the help of a few familiar faces. Everton’s LGBTQ+ supporters squad, Rainbow Toffees, is gearing up for its 2026 festive celebrations.
A few changes have been introduced for the Sunday, December 21 event compared to last year in order to make as many vulnerable people as possible feel the Christmas cheer. This year, the group has teamed up with Joel’s Goals and the Lifeboat Recovery Hub in a bid to “strengthen their mission to reach even more people in need”.
The outreach will take place at 2pm, outside St Luke’s Bombed Out Church, where volunteers will gather to share food, warm clothing, hygiene essentials, and seasonal treats with those experiencing hardship.
Rainbow Toffees Paul Hession told the ECHO: “This is our second year running. We had it in a venue last year, and a lot of the homeless people told us they didn’t want to lose their spot on the street, so quite a few didn’t come.
The Rainbow Toffees Christmas event 2024
The Rainbow Toffees Christmas event 2024
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"We don’t want that this year, we want the opposite. We want to go to them, we want to go out and about and get directly involved. We are bringing Christmas to them.
"A lot of people think it's all jingle bells and jolly times with family, but it isn’t. There are people just left out in the freezing cold, while others are celebrating.
"It’s a time of sadness as well for many. This day is about unity, compassion, and spreading a little festive magic.”
So far the event has been supported by the likes of TV star Mikey Connor from BBC’s I Kissed A Boy, Billy Butler, Neville Southall, Speedo Mick and India Willoughby.
George Scott, ex-Liverpool player who formed part of the Bill Shankly squad, will be there on the day. Serving curry and rice, Scouse, bread rolls and fruit, the team will remain outside the church for an hour before doing a lap around the city.
The Joels Goals team at the grave of Joel Thomas Crockett-Devine.
The Joel's Goals team at the grave of Joel Thomas Crockett-Devine.
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On the day, everyone who they come across gets a Christmas gift from either a snowman, Santa or one of his elves.
It is one of the many events the group is hosting this month. They are also throwing a Q&A session with Everton Legend Neville Southall at BoxPark on Tuesday, December 23. Neville Southall has been a patron of the group since 2018.
At the time, he said: "Football faces some tough challenges ahead not just at top level but at grassroots where gender and sexuality issues need clear and equal rules. If we don’t talk about these issues they won’t go away: we as the football world need to address the issues now even if it means some challenging times for both football and the LGBT community.
"There are people both kids and adults who are suffering now as humans we must not let this happen. We must act now"