Day 1/8 - 22Dec - Setting up The Gate
The Gate opens tomorrow for service, more on that in a later post, but today a group of volunteers have about five hours to unload the trucks, open the boxes and prepare the building to be ready to offer a place off the streets over Christmas.
The Gate opens each year in a new site to keep its location secret, ensure the neighbours barely know we have arrived until we leabe and to make use of whatever building is available for us to takeover.
For the past few years Crisis At Christmas have been offered London academy sites around London that come with all mod cons, hot water, working toilets, industrial-grade kitchens and gyms that make for great sleeping areas.
In years past this was not the case and a loan building could be close to demolition or neglected, since then Crisis At Christmas has built a good reputation with landlords thanks to handing back their sites in great condition, at least as good as today's handover to us just a lot cleaner.
We have boxed up and stored all of the academy equipment and unboxed our own gear to prepare the kitchen and storeroom to cook hundreds of meals each day.
Whilst we were setting up the kitchen another team was preparing the dormitory for the homeless guests to use for the week.
Here they will have a warm and safe environment to securely store their belongings, sleep whenever they want and have access to three hot nutritious meals and showers everyday.
In further posts I'll summarise the other services we offer, today this post is about our preparations and reaching readiness for the first volunteers and guests to arrive.
It's amazing how quickly a group of volunteers can bring this academy into a recognisable "Gate", tomorrow new volunteers will finish it off to be homely and welcoming to all comers.
I did a recce cycle ride yesterday and have a 40 minute journey, my afternoon rota starts at 3pm and finishes at 11pm.
The time before or after a busy Gate shift is a magic moment to relax, unwind, enjoy the day or night before repeating it all over again the next day, I'm hoping the road traffic will be quiet and forgiving as my route takes me through busy parts of town.
I'm looking forward to meeting a lot of regular faces, guest and volunteers, and first timers too who will be tentative at first but will soon settle in the relaxed atmosphere led by our Green Badge, Ros Ponderr.
My 2019 Justgiving fundraiser: link
Last year's Gate Diary 2018 - link
Here are some photos from our temporary warehouse in Bermondsey who have been active for several days taking in clothes, food and equipment for distribution to the centres today including our Gate.
Regards, Paul
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NB: These diary entries are written as a thank-you to everyone who has donated to Crisis At Christmas, would still like to or just curious to know what happens behind the scenes.
I write this diary to let you know how we spend your money and to encourage you to keep supporting Crisis At Christmas as it depends upon your donations or volunteering to fund the huge Christmas operation and year round services - https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/llct2019
The Gate opens each year in a new site to keep its location secret, ensure the neighbours barely know we have arrived until we leabe and to make use of whatever building is available for us to takeover.For the past few years Crisis At Christmas have been offered London academy sites around London that come with all mod cons, hot water, working toilets, industrial-grade kitchens and gyms that make for great sleeping areas.
In years past this was not the case and a loan building could be close to demolition or neglected, since then Crisis At Christmas has built a good reputation with landlords thanks to handing back their sites in great condition, at least as good as today's handover to us just a lot cleaner.
We have boxed up and stored all of the academy equipment and unboxed our own gear to prepare the kitchen and storeroom to cook hundreds of meals each day.
Whilst we were setting up the kitchen another team was preparing the dormitory for the homeless guests to use for the week.Here they will have a warm and safe environment to securely store their belongings, sleep whenever they want and have access to three hot nutritious meals and showers everyday.
In further posts I'll summarise the other services we offer, today this post is about our preparations and reaching readiness for the first volunteers and guests to arrive.
It's amazing how quickly a group of volunteers can bring this academy into a recognisable "Gate", tomorrow new volunteers will finish it off to be homely and welcoming to all comers.I did a recce cycle ride yesterday and have a 40 minute journey, my afternoon rota starts at 3pm and finishes at 11pm.
The time before or after a busy Gate shift is a magic moment to relax, unwind, enjoy the day or night before repeating it all over again the next day, I'm hoping the road traffic will be quiet and forgiving as my route takes me through busy parts of town.
I'm looking forward to meeting a lot of regular faces, guest and volunteers, and first timers too who will be tentative at first but will soon settle in the relaxed atmosphere led by our Green Badge, Ros Ponderr.
My 2019 Justgiving fundraiser: link
Last year's Gate Diary 2018 - link
Here are some photos from our temporary warehouse in Bermondsey who have been active for several days taking in clothes, food and equipment for distribution to the centres today including our Gate.
Regards, Paul
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NB: These diary entries are written as a thank-you to everyone who has donated to Crisis At Christmas, would still like to or just curious to know what happens behind the scenes.
I write this diary to let you know how we spend your money and to encourage you to keep supporting Crisis At Christmas as it depends upon your donations or volunteering to fund the huge Christmas operation and year round services - https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/llct2019
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