My Crisis

Warning: this is an incredibly lengthy post.  (but surrounding an extremely deserving subject)

Every year, Crisis, a charity supporting and helping the homeless, run a week long event for anyone in need of help, and last year, I signed up to volunteer. Before I went I had no real clue as to what I'd be doing. My initial thoughts were that I'd be talking to 'homeless' people and serving food, however there was underground talk of cleaning toilets (which made me hesitant to turn up- cleaning my own toilet is bad enough, but a strangers doodoo? no thanks.).

Still, despite the rumours, I woke up at SIX THIRTY to catch my train and be there early for my first shift, and I am so glad I did. It was at an incredible school that had allowed us to occupy it for the week during the Christmas holidays. Walking around, it was like a state of the art school that would only exist on a film set or in your imagination, but even being in awe of the location, I was primarily interested in the cause and wanted to find out more. We were quickly introduced to our Green Bagdes and Key Volunteers for the day (basically our leaders), and even after the breif about safety, rules and the charity itself, I was still unsure of what really layed ahead.

 Catching the train at hours which, if I had my own way, wouldn't exist.

This school was like something out of a modern american film.

All bundled in to one staff room, we all nervously waited to be called up for our duties, my first being to clean the stairwell banisters to get rid of any germs and minimalise the risk of infection (a task in which must be extremely important if I was asked to do it (just kidding)). By the time I was finished, the first guests had begun to stream in; running around looking for a quick haircut or manicure at the makeshift salon in one of the art rooms with the big sinks, or an appointment with the on-site doctor. My next duty was on the doors, telling people where to go, where to sign in etc. and it was incredible and shocking to see the aray of guests that registered. I definitely see ignorance as one of the worst character traits for anyone to have, and I tend to activly avoid people with it, but even I was guilty of not recognising the extent of how homelessness can effect anyone. There were people in shirts, typical 'man shoes', carrying hold-alls and looking respectable... certainly not fitting the bill of a stereotypical 'tramp'. Before, it had never crossed my mind that, despite what they have do have not being the worse, it might be everything they have. It made me realise that these people are ordinary, like you and me, with extraordinary stories and in extrememly unfortunate positions.

Little things that I picked up during my shifts really made my heart sink. For example, whilst on duty at storage for any guest's belongings, I was left wondering why so many people were leaving during serving time, only to be told by one of the guests on his way out, that his stomach was too small to cope with such big portions and knowing that he will not be recieving the same extent of food next week, he didn't want to stretch it. Another man also told me of how his stomach cannot process such dense nutrition and that consuming good food made him physically ill. Going back to when I was on duty by the doors, an elderly man entered and when being told of all the amazing services that Crisis provided such as a massage, access to libraries, arts and crafts etc. he simply responded with an 'I've just come for the company.'. All the small things began to really open my eyes to how incredibly strong the guests are. Despite their obvious misfortunes, not a single guest was ungrateful or hostile. Walking around the day centre, everyone, including volunteers had a smile on their face when they entered, whilst they were there, and when they left at the end of the day.

I was lucky enough to be chosen to do 'navigation duty', whereby I simply had to go in the car with a few guests and navigate the driver to where the rough sleepers centre where they were staying overnight was, and got to see the temporary solution of more extreme homelessness that Crisis had organised. It was quite overwhelming to say the least to see the sheer number of people with litterally nothing to their names, but nonetheless, all the people there were actively trying to improve, or helping others to improve their situation. I actually rode with a guest who Crisis was able to 'reconnect' with his family back in Romania. I am unaware of the details (and wouldn't publish them on the internet anyway) on how he ended up homeless, but, recognising his situation, Crisis was able to organise for him to go home back to his family. Without this charities help, the young man would have faced an indefinite amount of time on the streets with no money, barely any rights and living rough, open to danger, ill health and most probably pushed in the direction of committing crimes and/or turning to drugs and/or alcohol (which then lands them in a dangerous cycle of which is hard to be broken).

What Crisis does for its thousands of guests is invaluble. In the centre that I helped out at, Crisis at Christmas managed to refer 54 people to safe beds and places to sleep in the first day alone; that is 54 less people sleeping in the cold that night. But it's not all about the physical help in which Crisis does that makes it so incredible, it gives people a chance to be valued. A young woman, who was also a guest, described Crisis at Christmas as 'a parachute', because it stopped people from hitting rock bottom. The sense of community that I was hit with volunteering during that one week alone could not be described as anything but heartwarming. Despite the contrast of lifestyles, there were no longer the barriers between two groups of people and everyone was treated with the same respect that every human deserves. The strength of these people really made me evaluate myself, and the amount of admiration I have for the people I met there is huge. Homeless people aren't always drunk, drug addict, criminals who have no desire to better themselves, like many of us characterise them to be, but are human beings, with ambitions, loves, needs, dreams and stories like the rest of us.

During the week of Crisis at Christmas, James Beavis did an inspiring and extremely scary thing: He took to the streets begging during the day and sleeping rough during the night in an attempt to raise money and awareness for the homeless. He documented his experience here and by the end of the week he had raised over £25,000 in aid of Crisis. There is no shadow of doubt that what he has done will contribute massivly to saving and helping hundereds of lives.

I'm not quite sure how to sum up my experience of Crisis, but it is definitely something that has changed my outlook on life dramatically and is something I shall sign up to partake in again next year (even though the stories of toilet scrubbing are true). It's strange to think that just by opening your eyes and ears to a few peoples stories and situations, and giving up just a few moments of your time to smile and interact, someone elses life can really be improved. Click here to watch the Crisis at Christmas 2012 video on the difference that it makes.

Although it runs an intense and extreme service at Christmas, Crisis is an active, all-year-round charity with a constant aim to help raise awareness of homelessness and steadily improve the situations of thousands across the UK. You can donate however big or small here. Every little helps and those spare few pounds you may frivolously spend on an overpriced coffee could be the difference between someone going hungry or being able to eat tonight. After seeing, first hand, the impact it can make, I encourage everyone to avoid ignorance and increase their charitability this year. We can only make the world a better place.

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