Charity begins at Christmas

Christmas is usually associated with shopping for the latest must-have toys and gadgets and ensuring everything is perfect for the big day, but for Leigh-ann Steele, the festive season means much more than that.

“For the last couple of years, I’ve really wanted to give back to the local community and even looked into doing different things but never got around to doing any of them,” explains Leigh-ann.

As the busy head of interior design for Anderson Sinclair  kitchen designers, work and life are a constant juggling act, so it’s no wonder charity work got pushed to the bottom of the pile. Then last Christmas, Leigh-ann decided she was ready to do something and signed up to be a support volunteer with Crisis, the national charity for homeless people, for four shifts from Christmas Eve onwards.

“It’s not all about the Christmas rush and making sure you get that last bag of nuts. My experience just reinforced what we should focus on at Christmas.”

Every year, the charity organises Crisis Christmas where homeless and vulnerably housed people, or ‘guests’ as they are called, are welcomed at nine special centres, where they can receive hot meals, a place to sleep and bathe. Crisis relies on the support of volunteers to help facilitate the week-long initiative, which runs from 23 – 30 December.

From lawyers, who give out free advice, to hairdressers, to comedians who put on special performances - these volunteers do everything possible to ensure guests are given a memorable and, more importantly a practical Christmas, which could give them a better standard of living.

“Crisis is an amazing charity,” enthuses Leigh-ann. “Every year, they approach large companies, schools and colleges who own empty or derelict buildings to see if they will donate them for one week. Crisis usually find out two days before the centres are about to open and that’s when they send out an email to the volunteers to reveal the location.”

During those two days, there’s a whirlwind of activity while toilets and shower facilities are set-up, beds are laid out and kitchens are organised. There’s also an area designated for computers and printers, where ‘guests’ can learn new skills and pull a CV together.

Leigh-ann was assigned to work in the high dependency centre in Battersea - the only venue where people with addictions can stay and actually continue to drink or take drugs (within reason) over the seven-day period.

“I used to have preconceptions that the homeless were lazy and didn’t want to sort out their issues, but after having so many in depth conversations with people who live on the streets, I realised they’re just like you and me and maybe their addictions got the better of them.”

She recalls one family who stayed at the centre every year. “I was standing outside when I heard this woman, who must have been in her forties, say to her brother ‘you have to be nice to mum if you want a hit’.

“I almost cried,” she says incredulously. “You’ve obviously got these generations of people who don’t know anything but drugs. I thanked god for my upbringing because that so easily could have been me or someone I know.”

Another guest, who was once a successful hotelier in Tenerife, also had a big impact on Leigh-ann. “He had a fantastic family, was doing really well for himself, and then he turned to alcohol, which eventually cost him everything.

“He even showed me a photo of him taken six months ago. He was clean shaven and looked professional. And that’s when it hit me, his story could have happened to anybody. It just made me feel so grateful for everything I have,” she smiles.

“At the time a lot of my friends and family couldn’t understand why I wanted to volunteer, and some were even shocked. My shift on Christmas Day was for only half of the day so I did get to spend time with my family, but I know some of them didn’t understand the things I had experienced.”

Although Leigh-ann felt ‘emotionally drained’ after her shifts, she revelled in seeing how the centre’s visitors enjoyed themselves. “It was great fun for them, and you sense they’re all part of a wider community as most of them know each other.

“I certainly have changed my mind about homeless people. I used to have preconceptions that they were lazy and didn’t want to sort out their issues, but after having so many in depth conversations with people who live on the streets, I realised they are just like you and me and maybe their addictions got the better of them. It’s a vicious circle, once you lose everything, it just becomes a spiral.”

Now she’s experienced an alternative type of Christmas, Leigh-ann is keen to keep up the good work, and will be found volunteering at another centre this month.

“It really gave me a different perspective of what is important. It’s not all about the Christmas rush and making sure you get that last bag of nuts. My experience just reinforced what we should focus on at Christmas,” she concludes.

For more information about Crisis Christmas at www.crisis.org.uk

By Rupa Sudra