Caring At Christmas....

SO I know this was a long time ago but I wanted to write about....Caring at Christmas is an organisation in Bristol that takes over the 'Julian Trust' night shelter for homeless people and turns it into something amazing from Christmas eve until new years eve...It turns 18 beds into 50, it provides a television, clothes, blankets and 24hours of food availability in 24 hours...
After 'Autopsy Fail' something came over me. I couldn’t shake the feeling of complete despair at the homeless man who no one knew lying on that steely cold table. It got steadily colder in Manchester, and every day the thermostat war ensued in House 35. We were quibbling those extra pennies being spent on keeping us warm. At least we had the option to quibble. I was even tucking my top into my jeans. Every day it got colder I realised more and more people would be struggling with street life.
So I decided that on going back to Bristol I would do some work for Caring at Christmas. I worked 4 4 hour shifts from Xmas eve where we made 50 beds (a triumph considering I rarely make my own), poured tea and coffee for 3.5 hours and washed up breakfast gear for 100 people. When my alarm went off I cursed. I trudged down Ashley hill in the icy snowy mush occasionally flailing around trying to regain my balance. Every morning on the way I asked myself why I was doing this and every time I left I knew why...
I’m trying really hard not to sound righteous. To sound like a do-gooder, cliché saying I felt like I’d made a difference. The experience wasn’t about me and I can see how it may look like i'm trying to earn brownie points, it’s difficult to explain without sounding ridiculous that coming home for me was about everything that these people don’t have. Family and friends and shelter and warmth.
It helped me wise up to a lot of things that I had no idea about, and it forced me to see a lot of things I think people turn a blind eye to.
I can’t really summarise this with a statement about how I 'made a difference'...if I hadn’t been there someone else would have wrinkled their fingers in that washing up water.
All I can really say is I will be volunteering at Christmas for as long as I can.