Unitedkingdom Volunteer Work Lifestyle
My “Crisis” Weekend in London
Published by jacko77 on Mon Dec 31st, 2007
On Friday 28th December 2007 I arrived in London at 12.05pm at kings cross train station with anticipation & excitement knowing full well what I was about to put myself into for the first time. With my shift not starting until 3.00pm I decided to explore this amazing multicultural city.
I reserved my bed in the Journey Kings Cross Hostel, just 2 minutes away from the Kings Cross underground.
With 3.00pm quickly approaching I decided to head for Centre 1, 261 City Road which was the homeless centre I was allocated to volunteer in for the weekend. Once I arrived at the centre, I was approached by an army of people with white badges guarding the doors & gates asking for my name & badge.
Once into the building I was directed to the volunteers room waiting for the rest of my shift nervously, knowing that I am not going to know a soul. But knowing that many people are also 1st time volunteers I decided to jump in the deep end and get know some of the greatest people I have ever met & will never forget.
With close to 150 volunteers finally arrived for the 3.00pm shift ready to start their duties to make these next couple of days for the homeless of London something to remember, we was all assigned some kind of general duty & sent out in pairs. This was truly like a well oiled machine.
I was assigned for kitchen duty with 3 other volunteers, preparing 500 sets of knifes, forks & spoons, but I was all fingers and barely got 100 sets prepared. But once all the preparation was finished & the food was ready to be dished out, I was given the job as a spotter. This was fantastic, because it was direct involvement with the guests themselves and getting to know them as an individual.
What I realized is how intelligent some of these people really are, I spoke to several guests in areas politics, history & war.
By the end of my first day I was totally exhausted and just looked forward to a good night in bed from the various tasks I was assigned but also had a deep feeling of joy & purpose.
On my second day within centre, I was looking forward to it from the moment I woke up. Now knowing the procedure and getting to know some of the volunteers two of which were Adam & Susan.
My main duty that I was assigned on day 2 was the gate duty outside for around 4 hours with Adam. This was a very simple task to allow vehicles in & out the premises. It was far from the perfect setting, but was a great way to get to know the guests because they was always outside having a cigarette, but I would advice anyone to have thick coat when doing the outside duties.
Once the day came to a close we were all called to the volunteers room and asked to give a report of what we thought of the last couple of days and many said that it was very purposeful, rewarding & have already planned ahead to help out in the Christmas Crisis 2008. We then continued onto the bar just down the road to talk about this great week.
For more information on this great organisation go to http://www.crisis.org.uk
I reserved my bed in the Journey Kings Cross Hostel, just 2 minutes away from the Kings Cross underground.
With 3.00pm quickly approaching I decided to head for Centre 1, 261 City Road which was the homeless centre I was allocated to volunteer in for the weekend. Once I arrived at the centre, I was approached by an army of people with white badges guarding the doors & gates asking for my name & badge.
Once into the building I was directed to the volunteers room waiting for the rest of my shift nervously, knowing that I am not going to know a soul. But knowing that many people are also 1st time volunteers I decided to jump in the deep end and get know some of the greatest people I have ever met & will never forget.
With close to 150 volunteers finally arrived for the 3.00pm shift ready to start their duties to make these next couple of days for the homeless of London something to remember, we was all assigned some kind of general duty & sent out in pairs. This was truly like a well oiled machine.
I was assigned for kitchen duty with 3 other volunteers, preparing 500 sets of knifes, forks & spoons, but I was all fingers and barely got 100 sets prepared. But once all the preparation was finished & the food was ready to be dished out, I was given the job as a spotter. This was fantastic, because it was direct involvement with the guests themselves and getting to know them as an individual.
What I realized is how intelligent some of these people really are, I spoke to several guests in areas politics, history & war.
By the end of my first day I was totally exhausted and just looked forward to a good night in bed from the various tasks I was assigned but also had a deep feeling of joy & purpose.
On my second day within centre, I was looking forward to it from the moment I woke up. Now knowing the procedure and getting to know some of the volunteers two of which were Adam & Susan.
My main duty that I was assigned on day 2 was the gate duty outside for around 4 hours with Adam. This was a very simple task to allow vehicles in & out the premises. It was far from the perfect setting, but was a great way to get to know the guests because they was always outside having a cigarette, but I would advice anyone to have thick coat when doing the outside duties.
Once the day came to a close we were all called to the volunteers room and asked to give a report of what we thought of the last couple of days and many said that it was very purposeful, rewarding & have already planned ahead to help out in the Christmas Crisis 2008. We then continued onto the bar just down the road to talk about this great week.
For more information on this great organisation go to http://www.crisis.org.uk
More Share Options
 Del.icio.us |  Digg |  Furl |  Reddit |  YahooMyWeb |
User Comments
Comments: 0 Images: 0
Would you like to have your say ?
Join triplagoon for a free account or login if you already have an existing member account.
Sponsered Listings
Sponsered Listings
