Thursday 25 December 2008

Christmas with Crisis

Day One

Every alternate year I get to spend Christmas at a homeless Shelter. This of course a great sacrifice as everyone knows how mch I love this time of year - 'Tis the season to be Grinchy after all.

The last time I did this I stayed in a Hostel and vowed never again. This year I was able to secure a room at the Kings Cross Travelodge in their sale - what luxury! Checking in on the 23rd I was soon able to find my room by going down this corridor

and then this one

and then this

Inside what luxuries await - a teeny tiny bedroom and a dollshouse bathroom - not bad for £19 per night inc breakfast

Day 2

Today is my first proper day of volunteering and I'm not sure what to expect at all. On arrival we are herded into a breifing where our shift leader wishes us all a merry christmas and lets us know that if we're not prepared to do whatever we're asked for we might as well all piss off home - I think it's been a stressful day already!

Before we are allocated our jobs for the shift we are asked if anyone has office experience - I raise my hand as do a handful of others and we are whisked away for a round of Admin Idol. I am eventually crowned the winner by dint of being the one who is doing the most shifts. The rest of my 3pm to 11.30pm stint rushes by in a whirlwind of phone calls and logistical nightmares all of which I am expected to sort out myself - my only training being a handful of notes that the girl on the shift before left behind before she left me - a pitying look in her eyes. I have typed up referral notes dictated by a psychtriast whilst simultaneous sorting out the mystery of the missing teaspoons, navigating volunteers to the centre by phone after their prat navs have failed and dispensing medication to guests - it has been a ball!

I'm not allowed to take photos of the Centre, Guests or Volunteers for obvious reasons so please amuse yourselves with the view from my room and the surrounding area.







Day 3
Yay - it's Christmas and the hotel have marked the occassion by losing my breakfast booking and playing Noddy Holder's Top 100 Christmas Tunes on the telly and Carols to Travel in Lifts By on the speakers. This is a bit much for someone who likes nothing stronger than John Humphries and the rest of the Radio 4 Today team in the morning and so I am grumpy - Stef Grumpy on Christmas Morning - surely not!
I am cheered up, however, with a phone call from the girls. Bill woke them all up early to open their stockings, which in the case of Aiden, contained toblerone and a misguided recorder, and then went back to bed. The girls told me that the plan was to leave it half an hour and then despatch the by now hypertobleroned Aiden and his recorder into Bill's room to return the favour.

2 comments:

Spike said...

Well done, young Stef. We are all thinking of you as we ladle in our Pavlovas with eclairs to wash down the roast beef, lamb, yorkshire puddings,broccoli, sweet potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, poached fish with lemon sauce whose Maori name I cannot pronounce, rice and roasted ham and much, oh so much more and unlimited access to all available forms of alcohol, nuts, chesses and choccies. Probably about the same as yours. But your reward will be in heaven, while we suffer for our gluttony by having to buy new scales. All the good work of the last few hundred kilometers run and fast walk are undone in one enormous blow-out. Well done Stef, you truly are an Angel.

I love you so much,

Dad.

Stef's Stuff said...

yes thanks for that - the centre ran out of chrismas dinner so I have had tomato pasta, roast potatoes, sprouts and stuffing balls for my dinner :)