Day 8/8 - 29Dec - Final Shift

The last shift is over, I've caught up with some sleep and cleaned all the cheese sauce off of my smartwatch to find the week in the Gate kitchen finished at about 101,000 steps, 85km and 92 hours standing.

I don't know what that all means beyond being reminded that kitchen work on minimum wage and a zero hour contract is a very tough way to earn a crust, forget those tv shows.

Tonight we throw everything we have got at the ovens and Bratt braiser to use up the last of the fresh fruit and veg. By now the guests and volunteers have good appetites and used to the routine of three hearty hot meals a day now

I make six large trays of cauli and broc cheese, that's two hours of grating, after hunting down anything that looks like cheese for the huge pot of white covering sauce, then onto the Bratt to fry the parsnips again.

James is probing, digitally of course, the roast chicken telling me he is looking for over 75C for thirty seconds from each joint and clear juices, else it's back into the ovens until he does. Each batch of meat or veg we produce is sampled into a small pot, labelled and stored in a separate fridge and sent off to a lab for analysis to ensure the quality control of our kitchen hygiene processes are up to scratch.

It just takes one volunteer with an infectious illness or dodgy food in a centre packed everyday with the same people so extra caution is needed. That's why you must use 'Scores on the Doors' where you eat and avoid anything scoring less than 4 and preferably 5 - link.
 
We've peaked at 145 guests, The Gate beds are all taken, 33 in our cinema, and hopefully my diary has reflected everything is running well but it's a sign of the times we're at full capacity. More than half our guests have seen support groups and NA has been packed.

Any of the dry or tinned food that we don't use tomorrow is passed onto FareShare, a charity born out of the Christmas At Christmas kitchen excess stock and I recommend you click on the link above to read more about it - link

This year my daughter volunteered for several days and persuaded her bestie to join her, reluctant and apprehension at first but no stopping them once they realised how much fun The Gate can be too.

I'll publish a final status report on Gate outcomes when they come through, but we've already found permanent  housing for two female guests, helped three more repatriate back to their families in Lithuania and Bangladesh, got Albert's benefits restored and we made guest Michael a birthday cake and all the kitchen staff sang to him upon presentation.

On Christmas Day, Crisis At Christmas served 5,625 hot meals and 37,201 across the week, Healthcare volunteers saw 558 guests, 715 items repaired by the sewing groups, while the Eyecare team examined 302 people and prescribed 232 pairs of glasses - not bad whilst the shops were closed.

Our Gate  Leader, Ros, has just posted her closing thoughts:

"Now that I’ve had some sleep and my brain is a little less fuzzy (!) I just wanted to say a massive THANK YOU to everyone who joined us this year. It was one of the loveliest Christmasses I’ve known, and that’s very much down to all of you. Here are a few of my highlights. Please do add any of your own...

1. Seeing Claire and her extraordinary team swoop in to give one of our youngest guests (who was new to the streets and had no dependency issues) a job in our kitchen while we worked out what to do for him. He is now rehoused and has a job as a kitchen porter starting next week.

2. Watching Gary, aka ‘The Barefoot Superstar’, conducting the choir. He’d been angrily demanding to speak to the Head Of Crisis about the lack of a choir all week... and when one finally showed up his reaction was priceless.

3. Byron singing. There are no words. What an absolute talent!

4. Hearing about our football team’s hilarious performance in the inter-centre tournament. Whoever agreed to let Junior, quite possibly our most inebriated guest, go in goal is a comedy genius. We came last.

5. Watching three of our, let’s say ‘more troublesome’, guests holding hands and leading each other into an NA meeting.

6. Talking to a guest just after she’d opened up and shared her story for the first time in one of the NA meetings. Powerful stuff.

7. Edij’s ever changing wardrobe. There was a moment of confusion before I realised he’d somehow persuaded one of our key vols to give him his ‘smurf’ outfit. 

And who knew we’d find such a perfect new owner for the Iron Maiden onesie that was donated! Great that he decided to shave his name on his head too. If only more people would do this!

8. Catching up with L when he returned from his first day at work in his new job. We made sure he had the train tickets he needed to get there and back every day, and the Night Shift team ensured he was woken up at 6am every morning and given a special cooked breakfast and packed lunch every day.

9. Realising I had been on the wrong radio channel for 4 days straight. I thought it was incredibly peaceful! Who needs radios anyway though? Awful things.

10. One of our notoriously grumpy guests asking for a chat in private. Bracing myself for his next onslaught, only for him to grab my hand and say with real sincerity; ‘I know I sometimes forget my manners, so I just wanted to say thank you’."

This week our Afternoon Shift team served a Gate record of 1,641 plates to guests, centre volunteers and warehouse crew as well.

I've really enjoyed cycling to the centre in the winter sun and back in the midnight hour shortcuting through dense urban South London.

The return trip has been a journey in the fresh chill air along quiet streets and paths, unwinding and thinking about the day's events, sucesses, failures and heartbreaks.

By the time I get home I'm ready for bed, marshalled my thoughts to write this diary the next day by way of daily self-therapy and unpacking so thanks for indulging me.

A constant and welcome companion has been  late sightings of many urban foxes, each with a  individual shape and attitude when they spot me coming on my brightly lit Brompton.

I stop, we look and stare, holding a magical moment before it breaks and fox is gone.

It seems a neat way to end this 2019 diary with a verse from my favourite poet, Ted Hughes, called The Thought-Fox:

"... Till, with a sudden sharp hot stink of fox
It enters the dark hole of the head.
The window is starless still; the clock ticks,
The page is printed."

Happy New Year, Paul
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My 2019 Justgiving fundraiser: link

Last year's Gate Diary 2018 - link

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 subsequent year round services 

 https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/llct2019