As family's prepare to gather round the tree to celebrate Christmas it serves a reminder of how hard the festive period can be when a member of the family is seriously ill.

At Northfleet based ellenor, a charity that provides palliative and end of life care, they work tirelessly to make the holiday as special as possible for patients and their loved ones.

Staff try to make people with terminal illnesses life as normal as possible and meeting their wishes over Christmas.

This can be from something as small as making them comfy to having a specialised meal plan.

Catering manager at ellenor Daniel Parzefall thinks food nutrition is extremely important in the work the Coldharbour Road charity does.

He said: "We do everything we can to enable people who have lost their appetite through illness or treatment to enjoy food again.

"Some people might need specialist care at ellenor hospice over Christmas or some of the patients here may be facing their last ever Christmas; we aim to make them feel at home and put the patient and those who matter to them at the centre of our care.

"In the run up to Christmas we invite our community patients in for a festive lunch complete with all the trimmings and as much Christmas pudding as possible.

"If patients have difficulty swallowing, or if eating and drinking causes discomfort or anxiety, the catering team will tailor the menu to a soft food option, without compromising consistency and taste.

"We do exactly the same for our patients on the Inpatient Ward should they be staying with us over the festive period and we even send out Christmas lunches on Christmas Day to homecare patients who may be alone or unable to prepare a meal themselves.

"When you are having trouble swallowing, the act of eating can sometimes be scary and difficult so we puree the food into specially designed moulds which make it look like real food."

Mr Parzefall recalled a man in his 30s who was devastated he couldn't have his Christmas dinner due to difficulty swallowing.

The wellbeing team at ellenor prepared a special dinner for the man and his wife in a private dining room with two special lunches that looked identical. The only difference was one meal had been pureed.

Staff continuously go out of their way to care for patients, including working Christmas and Boxing Day.

To help ellenor you can donate by clicking here.

Every year, the Gravesend Messenger picks a local charity to support in the run up to Christmas. This year, we have chosen Northfleet-based ellenor - a hospice dedicated to looking after people and families affected by terminal illnesses.

So join us and show your support for the incredible work carried out there.