Well it’s December and can you believe another year has passed and what another Year it has been for us all! I do hope you managed ok over the past 12+ months.

This is my 12th year for volunteering at Crisis At Christmas, but as I am sure you have seen for yourself, it is still a very sad situation with more people than ever being homeless in some way. This year and going into 2023 with the cost of living crisis, as well as the increase in homelessness, I am sure you will agree, that it is still needed and now more than ever. I always wanted to volunteer for a homeless charity, as homelessness has always been something I felt strongly to try and help to do something and learn about. Ever since I started volunteering in 2011, I have found it really a rewarding and a positive thing to do at the festive time.

I will again be doing the NEW full daycentre all day shifts (9.00 am- 6.00pm) this year, from the 23rd December (centre Set up day) and also when the centre is open for Guests from the 24th December, at a day centre in South London. I will be doing 7 shifts in total.

This year we hope to be able to offer full services in day centres, unlike last year last minute changes! We had to change how we operated our 4 Day Centres, due to Public Health concerns of having too many people in the School buildings we use for the day centres, under the restrictions that were brought in last Christmas ...BUT...

THIS YEAR WE ARE BACK ON TO FULL SERVICE, FOR BOTH OUR 4 LONDON DAY CENTRES AND THREE ROUGH SLEEPERS HOTELS.

Our three hotels will operate as last year for over 500+ rough sleepers, giving them accommodation and one to one targeted support from the 20th December to the 4th January. In Addition, Crisis has again managed to raise additional funds (with your help), to keep the largest Hotel open for additional time for the most the vulnerable until the end of January. All these services will be done in conjunction with all year round established rough sleeping organisations, such as: St Mungoes, local councils, Support services and hostels etc.

Crisis will also have centres across the UK including: Birmingham, Coventry, Edinburgh, Merseyside, Newcastle, Oxford, and South Wales.

https://www.crisis.org.uk/get-involved/volunteer/volunteer-for-crisis-at-christmas/

If you would like to read more on how we are delivering Crisis again this Year and how your donation will help Crisis deliver this Christmas (as well as all Year round), and what has changed / learnt from the changes we had to do in 2020/2021, please take a moment to read below.

In 2020 & 2021, we had to radically review and redesign the Christmas offer to respond to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Last year for two weeks we accommodated around 500+ guests in hotel rooms around London. Our guests told us that they benefited from more privacy and a space, albeit temporary, they could call their own. We have learnt a lot through our review and evaluation of last Christmas and as a result, we are making some changes to how we run our project in 2022 and in future years. This has been led by feedback from our guests and we hope that this will bring the best benefits of both 2021 and previous Christmases, to our guests.

As you may recall, with the Covid lockdown situation last year, we were having to offer Crisis @ Christmas in a different way, with non-of our large usual day centres or residential accommodation bases in our usual School Academy buildings for about 2000 guests. Instead last year, we offered accommodation in Covid secure Hotel rooms at 4 sites in London. All guests were Covid safe in their rooms and all meals and support and activities were brought to them in their rooms by a very small team of us volunteers.

You can check out last year’s Christmas Report to see the incredible impact the support of people just like you had over Christmas 2021.

You can help us give as many people as we can a Christmas to remember

Nobody should be without a home this winter. Help give someone who’s homeless access to:

• Hot meals and Christmas lunch

• Help with a place to stay, including hotel accommodation

• A long-term personal case worker

• Christmas activities of arts and crafts, games and quizzes

• Advice on housing, employment, welfare and benefits

• Companionship from volunteers

• Support with mental and physical health

• Year-round support, including training and education

• The chance to leave homelessness behind for good.

Crisis @ Christmas 2021 in action:

"I came to the hotel in December and stayed for a month... It made a big difference to my life. I was not worried about what might happen. I felt safe in the hotel and that I would be OK.”

Sammy, Crisis at Christmas 2021 guest

• Please don’t forget if you are a UK tax payer, to tick the gift aid reclaim box-it makes a difference and does not cost you a penny!

• If you would prefer to donate direct to Crisis. For example for just £29.07 you would be reserving a place for one of our guests. You will not only be providing warmth, company and happiness for someone this Christmas, but also long-term support through our year round services to end their homelessness for good.

• Donate here: https://www.crisis.org.uk/get-involved/donate-to-crisis-at-christmas/

• You can see what else Crisis do here: https://www.crisis.org.uk/

• The monies raised at Crisis At Christmas play a massive part in the fundraising, in the work they do all year round, not just at Christmas, so your donations count!

The Crisis long term plan and aim as we all would want, is to try and end homelessness for good and to assist the current homelessness out of the never ending spiral of being homeless in the first place. If you would like more information on what I do at Crisis at Christmas and what Crisis does all year round and it’s aims and goals to help end homelessness, please read below:

Although all the people are like me and are Volunteers, it still all costs money, so your donation will make a real direct difference!!!

I have seen it for myself what your donations, Crisis and the volunteers achieve for all our guests, who really do appreciate and value everything we offer them. You can read / watch short videos of some of their and the volunteers stories (and the services and stats over the festive period) we offer, here on the Crisis website: https://www.crisis.org.uk/get-involved/volunteer/volunteer-for-crisis-at-christmas/

You can read more on what Crisis does all year round here https://www.crisis.org.uk/ from its Skylight centres around the UK supporting and advising the homeless and enabling many to get out of homelessness for good; to political lobbying to influence changes in housing legislation in many areas. An example, of all year round support and work that Crisis do at their Skylight centres across the UK.

So whatever you can spare this year, I, Crisis and (more importantly as always), the homeless people of London and across the UK will be enormously grateful.

Please feel free to spread this link to others- as you know I am not on Face book / Twitter - yes I am still a dinosaur- sorry!

Once again many thanks for taking the time to read this and I hope you have a really wonderful festive time and let us all hope we find a way out these difficult times for so many in 2023. I think it has all made us realise how lucky many of us are and take many things for granted and there are many people less fortunate than many of us.

Take care and look after yourself and others.

Steve

Steve Tandy