The Crisis at Christmas 2019 campaign was another eye-opener. A team of 7 people spend the whole year from February to December to prepare for the Christmas campaign.
All Colours, All Creeds, All Orientations! Everyone was represented, both as homeless guests & as volunteers, with 12,000 volunteers coming forward to help those less fortunate.
Day 1 & 2 of 5 were in the week before Xmas & involved organising food/clothing for each of the 9 centres.
Interesting Fact 1: 80% of homeless people are men, 20% are women but 80% of coats donated are by women, with only 20% from men! Come on Guys!
Day 3 & 4 of 5 took place during the Christmas week, & it was all loading/unloading vans, going out to centres and repeating the process.
Day 5 was closing down day – loading/unloading everything. Some stuff went back to the Crisis warehouses for next year whilst food & other items went to other charities to be used as needed.
Interesting Fact 2: There are (unfortunately) many Homeless charities; here are some of the key ones:
- Crisis works primarily on rehabilitating & reintegrating people
- Shelter focus on accommodation as in the urgent/social housing area
- Centrepoint works primarily with under 18s
- local borough based & other charities all help & fill in other gaps.
Please remember to take a look at the Crisis 2018 plan to try and end homelessness. Your contribution and support will be invaluable in helping us achieve this.
