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Only a couple of months to go until we overdose on telly, food, and presents we could  have really done without. Christmas is a brilliant time for children, but can be dull and perhaps depressing for some adults. But there is a cure…

I heartily recommend volunteering some time between the 23rd and the 30th of December to help out at Crisis Christmas venue. Crisis Christmas aims to give thousands of the capital’s homeless a warm, friendly and entertaining Christmas. As usual the charity will be operating a handful of venues across London (at least one near to the Kings Cross main line) and thousands of volunteers are needed to help staff them. So far about a thousand people have signed up, but many times that are needed.

It’s difficult to describe the volunteer experience concisely, but the words I would use to capture it are: Fun, inspirational, exciting, moving, rewarding, friendly,  social, challenging, empowering, eye-opening, life-reaffirming, altruistic, value-changing.

Having done it for a few years now I couldn’t imagine myself not doing it. You certainly couldn’t apply all those adjectives to a Christmas sat in front of the telly! Most people do it once and find themselves hooked, as I did.

You can do from 1 shift to 7 shifts, days or nights, and most venues are reachable by public transport. You will be giving a large disadvantaged and often disenfranchised group in our society a helping hand, and by doing so you will probably be humbled along the way by the people you meet and stories you hear. Most importantly it’s really good fun, there are games, Karaoke, art, food, music and much more. The buzz inside the centres once things get going is really something, and quite unique.

It’s really easy to go along on your own (many do), or with friends and family. You’re guaranteed to meet oodles of smiley helpful people, both volunteers and centre guests. No experience needed for general roles, or if you have specialisms like teaching or music you can donate that too.

If that has whetted your appetite they are now taking volunteer applications online,  have look here to find out more.

The registration page is HERE.

 Make Christmas special again!