Spotlight on: Arran – Crisis at Christmas

This blog was written by Arran, a guardian currently living in Canning Town.

Spotlight on: Arran

I spent seven days between 23-30 December volunteering at a rough sleepers centre in Hackney. Crisis is a charity that supports homeless people and makes a big effort at Christmas to make sure no one has to be alone at the festive period.

I was a general volunteer so I was rotated on a variety of different roles. This included helping with the preparation and distribution of food at meal times, serving of hot and cold drinks, cleaning of toilets, cleaning of shower facilities, organising of movie screenings and many more.

What I enjoyed the most was when I got to sit down and talk to guests. Often just general conversation, but sometimes we covered deeper issues like such as how some people came to visit the centre in the first place. Sometimes these were hard to hear but I hope it helped that they were able to share. I was told by guests that it was nice to be acknowledged as they are generally ignored in day to day life when on the street.

It was hard to fit in as many volunteering hours during this period as I did as it was a very busy period at work for me. I’m glad I did and it was definitely a worthwhile way to spend the time. I really hope that I made Christmas more enjoyable for at least one person.

I will look to get as many people as I can involved next year.