Spending the last few days out in London’s freezing cold weather conditions has reminded me of how many people will be spending the whole of the Christmas period outside in them, with no family, food or even a comfortable bed to sleep in let alone all the other great things most of us get to experience around this time of year. Crisis is an amazing charity who offer thousands of homeless people warm food, company, entertainment and most importantly, a comfortable bed to sleep in every year on Christmas day.
I helped out with Crisis at their homeless shelter in Hammersmith in London over the Christmas period and I could'nt recommend a more humbling experience.
The whole atmosphere of happy smiling faces is an amazing experience – on both the volunteers and ‘guests’. The stories you hear are sometimes sad, but also sometime happy, but you will learn some amazing skills and quite simply make someone’s Christmas. I could talk all night on specific examples – and am happy to elaborate more if anyone is interested – however if you are in London next Christmas you may want to spare a couple of days to dedicate to some people (often truly lovely and a joy to meet) who have had a tough time in their life. And when you hear their stories there is often little between ‘them’ and ‘us’ – apart from some bad luck which has spiraled out of control.
I’ve got to to know a man from Ireland who has been on London’s streets for over 20 years. To me, Christmas is meeting up with him in the Shelter and having a cup of tea and a long chat with him. As I said, it’s addictive and I would miss it if I didn’t do it. know it’s a scary thing for many of you – which is why I welcome your questions. However what I always say to people is, give it a couple of hours at least. If you really hate it no-one is going to hold you there – but I reckon you’ll be there for much longer
Many thanks for reading this – I hope you've had a lovely Christmas and remember always think about the ones less fortunate than us.
Camelia, Director of The Divine Image x