Crisis, the National Charity for Single Homeless People

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Letter to Branches





No. 990/11
Ref:
Date: 23rd ovember 2011




To All Branches

C.C. Branch Youth Officers
Regional Secretaries


Dear Colleague,

Crisis, the National Charity for Single Homeless People – Volunteering at Christmas

The Youth Advisory Committee (YAC) has commenced a programme of work with Crisis, the national charity for single homeless people. This joint initiative was launched at the recent National Youth Education Event and a programme of joint work is currently under construction.

The YAC wanted particularly to work with Crisis because of the very real problems our young members, who are predominantly single, face in, literally keeping a roof over their heads. The current government’s policies greatly exacerbate the risk of homelessness and this was a further impetus for the YAC to want to get involved.

Many branches and members will be aware of Crisis because of the “Crisis at Christmas” campaign which is now in its 40th year. The charity provides Christmas centres across London from 23rd to 30th December that offer vital companionship, hot meals and warmth and a wide range of essential services that homeless people often miss out on.

This year, Crisis expects nearly 3,000 guests to visit the 9 centres across London and the hope is that for many, this could be first step towards leaving homelessness for good.

But to makes this happen, more than 8,000 volunteers are required, from those willing to “muck in” and help out anywhere, to people with particular skills.

Crisis is therefore looking for particular types of volunteers:

General volunteers
Volunteers with skills in logistics
Volunteer with skills in services (from cooking to hairdressing and beyond)
Activities and entertainments volunteers

Full details about what is involved, including a comprehensive “frequently asked questions” section is available on the Crisis website that can be found at:

http://www.crisis.org.uk/pages/voluntee ... -2009.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

In addition to the centres in London, Crisis operates Skylight centres in London, Newcastle, Oxford, Birmingham, Edinburgh and on Merseyside. They too rely extensively on volunteers, and the specific URL for Skylight centres:

http://www.crisis.org.uk/pages/what-we- ... 61897.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Finally, if branches or members would like to support Crisis, but are unable to do so in person, the charity relies heavily on donations, and details about how to make a contribution can be found at:

http://www.crisis.org.uk/pages/donate.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

CWU young activists are already putting the YAC’s policy into action and a number have already signed up to volunteer for Crisis. YAC Vice Chair Dave Chivers from the Southdowns Amal branch said:

“With Xmas approaching and the cold Winter weather beginning to set in, it is only appropriate that the thoughts of many of us should turn to those less fortunate than ourselves and in particular the homeless and the hungry.

As an active Trade Unionist I cannot help but observe the incredible damage being done to vulnerable people by Government austerity measures, and it is this increasing awareness which has compelled me to contribute my time for one day over Xmas to prepare and provide help for the hungry and homeless in London.

Whilst continuing to actively campaign against this heartless and, dare I suggest very un-Christian austerity programme which is undoubtedly targeted against the poor, I nevertheless feel that by volunteering a small amount of my time to this cause is not only worthwhile, but also complementary to my other activity.

I therefore recommend that others like me should consider to do something similar - sometimes it is better to give than to receive, It’s just a pity that most of the giving is done by those with not as much to give”.

Ryan Case, YAC Chair, concludes: “Christmas is a time for coming together and really thinking about those who might not be in a similar position to ourselves.  With this in mind, it's really important that things like the Crisis at Christmas campaign is supported and encouraged.  A few hours out of a volunteer's life can make a huge difference to someone else”. 

As well as the links above, if there are any queries about exactly what volunteers do, SDGS Tony Kearns (who has experience in these matters) would be happy to answer any queries. Any other CWU-related enquiries about this LtB should be directed to my office. More information about CWU Youth’s joint work with Crisis will be published in the coming weeks.

With many thanks

Yours sincerely,

Simon Sapper
Assistant Secretary