Dom Pannell's Blog

Crisis Open Christmas 2006: Day Two

Well, I can't complain about the food not being on time today, as I charged with controlling the queues for breakfast and lunch - under the wing of Graeme the 'Green Badge'* who I was working with for the day.

Along with 30 general volunteers, we kept the flow of hungry guests moving in the dining hall and ensured that everyone who wanted to eat was served with food, before returning to the main 'day area' where they can benefit from the many services on offer, or amuse themselves by reading, watching television or whatever they prefer doing.

Both meals had meat and vegetarian options and were served as quickly and efficiently as possible, thanks to the kitchen staff who were led by a particularly good-natured female chef. As always, there was a lack of equipment, in particular trays, but the volunteers were able to recycle these in something of a production line.

The food was good, which meant that the atmosphere was friendly throughout. Hooray!

The only other tasks I was needed for involved persuading guests to leave toilet cubicles. While privacy is respected, we always have to be on the guard against drug use on site, so if a cubicle is occupied for an unusually long time, suspicions are aroused and the incumbents encouraged to leave. The lavatories are also in high demand because of the number of guests, so it's important to keep them as clear (and clean) as possible at all times. Today we had to wake up several guests who had fallen asleep in the loos - this can be due to various reasons, not least a lack of sleep the previous night. I was involved in three incidents, all of which ended happily with the resident leaving after a short discussion (only one of which became heated).

It does become rather hot in the dining area and I was glad when I had to take the bags of rubbish that had been filled during lunchtime out to the centre's skip - it was nearly three o'clock in the afternoon and the first time I'd seen natural daylight and breathed fresh air since starting at 7.45am.

Working in the dining area has one huge benefit: I've started meeting some familiar faces among the guests - people that I've got to know over the years and about whose lives I know a little. As always, the year since we last met has been mixed: very good for some, very bad for others, generally somewhere in between. The opportunity to speak to guests is why I became hooked on the Open Christmas in the first place and it feels good when they recall my name and greet me with smiles.

Roll on Christmas Day!

*Green Badges are the big cheeses at Crisis centres - they give up a crazy amount of time each year in order to plan and run the centres during Christmas week. I've mentioned previously that a centre is a huge logistical exercise and the Green Badges have the respect of guests and volunteers alike for their efforts and the untold sacrifices they make year in, year out. That's despite their collective sense of humour (I know that at least two GBs will read this!!).

Posted by dompannell at December 24, 2006 8:18 PM | TrackBack