Whether or not it was intended as a cryptic warning of things to come I am not sure but the other day I “volunteered” to help out for a lunchtime serving at the St George’s Crypt in Leeds, tucked away behind the Law Courts. The crypt is a temporary shelter in the main for the homeless providing a limited number of overnight beds but mainly providing what will most certainly be the only whole meal of the day for anybody who drops in…homeless or not. Generally there is a nominal payment of £1 and for a 3 course meal there are understandably few complaints but the wider benefits of a temporary shelter and a chance to socialise cannot be understated as well.
My good mate Patch had obviously observed my Christmas party antics and considered this worth a go before ringing up AA or requesting I be sectioned. And so Patch volunteered our services to Chris, the centre manager, our mutual friend, who does a job I could not imagine doing with unbelievable calm and tolerance. “Accident” in the toilets…no problem! Chefs not turning in to day with a hundred outside….no problem! Two idiot volunteers peeling carrots slower than an infant…no problem! With an ironic sense of humour Chris took our coats and offered us our “aprons” which were two Barclays in the Community t-shirts so there I was wearing the Barclays blue once again. They just cannot keep me away.
It is important to point out the contribution big businesses like Barclays and others locally such as Asda and Arla (part of Lurpak) make to the crypt’s existence with contributions varying from funding, food and volunteers. Other smaller local businesses also help out and the pie I snaffled at the end of the day made by a Leeds based company sharing my name was reward enough as good as it was. But the most significant contributions by far are the people who make the centre tick ranging from volunteers to the few paid staff. There was a tireless little old lady typifying what this place is all about defying an arthritic condition and simply ensuring the whole place ticked along.
As for Patch and me we were split into front of house and back kitchen duties and I got the ladles. Patch spent two hours stuck to the giant industrial dishwasher and a week doing that would be more effective than any post Christmas diet as the sweat was pouring off the old boy. It was either that or the nagging thought that wife and daughter were simultaneously assaulting the Leeds sales doing their bit to keep the high street alive. Out front I doled out soup and pie and people kept coming and coming. Alongside me a young volunteer, himself a previous beneficiary of the crypt but now being actively helped back into society as we know it, tried his best to drown the cheesy mash with oceans of gravy. Apple pie and cream rounded off the offering.
What struck me most about the people coming through the doors in large part was their grace and manners and if one or two were a bit tetchy then after a night on the streets I might be grumpy too. The other thing that hits home is what a waste of human ability this is because there is no simple stereotype here and, as Chris pointed out, most people are nearer being homeless than they think. The crypt has catered for doctors, accountants and solicitors so tragedy knows no boundaries. Sometimes your luck just runs out. These people are, after all, just like you and me.
It was a sobering experience and one that is impossible not to reflect upon especially with the New Year festivities so close. Despite all the economic woes out there this is still, in comparative terms, a very wealthy nation but the fact that there are thousands of people out there dependent for their daily survival on the miracles achieved by people like Chris and his team up and down the country suggests that something cannot be right with the system.
Happy New Year?
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