Sunday 28 December 2008

Day 4 in the big Crisis House

Today was checkout day from the hotel - yay. An ill-advised kebab from the night before meant that I was thankfully in a position to avoid breakfast at the hotel. I packed, checked out, and stuggled up Pentonville Road with my rucksack. Having an hour to kill I trated myself to a fabulous all-you-can-eat chinese buffet and then went to the shelter for my shift.


Now there is a lady called Amanda who is also trained on office managing and I have been promised that we will be taking it in turns. She has not appeared; I have checked the shift lists - there is no Amanda. I no longer believe in Amanda and have found myself in the office again.


The centre I am at is called Quiet - it does not live up to its name generally but is designed for the most vulnerable of guests - those who need a bigger vol/guest ratio and a lot of one on one help and advice. This means that I answer the phone with a loud "Quiet".


Today was actually relatively quiet. In terms of logistics if we haven't got it it's because the warehouse has run out and we aint getting it. The next 2 days, will however, be very busy in terms of services. Those that haven't been able to access advice, dentistry, podiatry, new clothes etc. begin to get anxious as time starts to run out but this is counter balanced by the fact that the volunteers are well settled and confident about what they are doing.


As things were relatively quiet though I have been landed with the most important job of all - finding a local pub which will take in 50 volunteers after closing time for a lock-in. This is a huge responsibility and I have been unsuccessful. If Amanda turns up it will be her job.


Got home at 1am to find that eldest daughter had kindly left out some hula hoops, some cookies and 3 days worth of washing up!


I am not allowed to take pictures of the centre so please enjoy a representation of the chinese meal that I had bearing in mind that this is not a true likeness but for illustration purposes only


oh good grief - that came out very big

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello young Stef,
I do hope you are having fun as well as an unending stream of disasters! Great that you have heard from Saj. Tell more on Ricketts family site or some other pubic notice board.
Love you
Dad

Adam Ricketts said...

Hello Steff....I am not sure you'll ever get this message but I just wanted to wish you a happy birthday and hope all is well. Would be nice to hear from you again. All the best from downunder. Bruv Adam