National homelessness charity Crisis is seeking Londoners to volunteer at Crisis at Christmas, the charity’s services supporting people out of homelessness over the festive period.
In the capital, Crisis will be providing hotel accommodation to over 590 people who would otherwise be sleeping rough this Christmas, as well as opening three day centres for hundreds of people stuck in insecure accommodation – such as hostels and B&Bs.
Crisis’ services will offer warmth, companionship, and vital support to some of the most marginalised in society at one of the toughest times of year. For the thousands of people who are supported by Crisis at Christmas every year, the services and support offer the first step in helping them build a life beyond homelessness.
For over 50 years, volunteers have been essential in helping Crisis provide its life changing Christmas services through which people are able to access Crisis’ year-round support to help them leave homelessness behind for good.
Preparation is well underway for this year’s offering, which will open on 20th December. Crisis is calling on Londoners to sign up for vital roles that will ensure that each guest has access to health, wellbeing and support services.
The organisation is looking for volunteers with experience as:
Specialist advisers, in particular areas such as, housing and homelessness, immigration, benefits and welfare, women’s rights and family law
Chefs
Hairdressers and barbers
Nail technicians
Eye care professionals, including Optical Dispensers, Optical Assistants, Optometrists and Ophthalmologists
Physiotherapists
Entertainers
Podiatrists
Wellbeing practitioners in yoga, pilates or meditation
Drivers
As Crisis gears up to open its services, the latest data shows that in London, over 4,000 people were forced to sleep rough between July and September this year, highlighting how vital Crisis’ Christmas services will be in supporting people off the streets this winter.
The hotels and day centres in London form part of the nationwide services that the charity will be running over Christmas. Through Crisis’ year-round services, hotels and health and wellbeing programmes, the organisation will be supporting over 7,000 people this Christmas.
Jo Dawes, 48, began volunteering with Crisis at Christmas over 15 years ago. She set up and continues to lead the physiotherapy service in the charity’s London-based healthcare team. She says: “Our team is part of a multidisciplinary group of healthcare professionals including doctors, podiatrists, pharmacists, and nurses, who all work together to support guests and offer the help that they need.
“Reassurance is a big part of what we do, as we only get to see people over the Christmas period, we have to assess and offer advice on how to manage health conditions. We see a lot of chronic health problems or symptoms that result from old injuries where guests weren’t able to seek proper treatment at the time. We also see people with back and neck pain from carrying heavy bags and sleeping on the streets. I find volunteering with Crisis hugely rewarding. Christmas can be a tough time for many people, so volunteering to provide support at this time feels like a really positive thing to do.”
Michael Phillips, Head of Volunteering at Crisis, said: “Crisis at Christmas simply wouldn’t be possible without the dedication of our amazing volunteers, who year on year provide our guests with support and companionship as they begin their journey out of homelessness.
“Volunteering at Christmas doesn’t just provide a lifeline to guests; it also sees our volunteers come together to build a sense of community for our guests at one of the toughest times of the year. So please, if you can, join our team of passionate and loyal volunteers and help us to ensure that thousands of people can discover a life beyond homelessness.”
In addition to the roles listed, Crisis is also looking for many more volunteers to help resource the charity’s services across the country. For more information on each of the roles available, and to sign up, please visit: https://www.crisis.org.uk/christmasvolunteering
