David left out a fairly awesome aspect of our Christmas break. So here's a brief, but hopefully valuable, interjection.
In the gap between Christmas and New Year we spent a bit of time with Sarah and Tomek - two friends from Hamilton. They had spent Christmas Day volunteering with the homeless and on the 29th they were rostered on for another shift. They couldn't stop going on about how amazing it all was, so off we went with them in the hope we could volunteer too. And now I can't stop going on about how amazing it was.
It was with an organisation called Crisis at Christmas. They essentially take over an abandoned office block for a week, turning it into a home for the homeless. Not only do they offer shelter, food and warmth for the thousands of people living on London's streets over what can be a very lonely (and cold) time of the year, but they offer every other service under the sun. Doctors, massages, showers, clothes, computers, bingo, councillors, etc. And that's where the volunteers come in (don't worry, I didn't masquerade as a doctor for a day). I was just a 'general volunteer' who helped make the whole thing tick along. The organisation encourages talking and mingling between the volunteers and guests which makes for a very interesting and social experience. Both David and I met some lovely volunteers, and some very interesting guests. I feel somewhat guilty; I think I got just as much out of the experience as the guests did.
Eight hours has never flown by so quickly. And you couldn't wipe the grin off my face. Especially at the end of the night when all the guests and volunteers collected in the main room, linked arms and sang 'Hey Jude' until the roof came off.
If I'm here next Christmas there is no doubt in my mind as to where I'll be. I think I can forfeit the roast turkey.
Here's a link to a video about it all. I spent some time with some of the people who feature in it.
- Hana
In the gap between Christmas and New Year we spent a bit of time with Sarah and Tomek - two friends from Hamilton. They had spent Christmas Day volunteering with the homeless and on the 29th they were rostered on for another shift. They couldn't stop going on about how amazing it all was, so off we went with them in the hope we could volunteer too. And now I can't stop going on about how amazing it was.
It was with an organisation called Crisis at Christmas. They essentially take over an abandoned office block for a week, turning it into a home for the homeless. Not only do they offer shelter, food and warmth for the thousands of people living on London's streets over what can be a very lonely (and cold) time of the year, but they offer every other service under the sun. Doctors, massages, showers, clothes, computers, bingo, councillors, etc. And that's where the volunteers come in (don't worry, I didn't masquerade as a doctor for a day). I was just a 'general volunteer' who helped make the whole thing tick along. The organisation encourages talking and mingling between the volunteers and guests which makes for a very interesting and social experience. Both David and I met some lovely volunteers, and some very interesting guests. I feel somewhat guilty; I think I got just as much out of the experience as the guests did.
Eight hours has never flown by so quickly. And you couldn't wipe the grin off my face. Especially at the end of the night when all the guests and volunteers collected in the main room, linked arms and sang 'Hey Jude' until the roof came off.
If I'm here next Christmas there is no doubt in my mind as to where I'll be. I think I can forfeit the roast turkey.
Here's a link to a video about it all. I spent some time with some of the people who feature in it.
- Hana
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