Christmas Day at the Shelter, the Hospital, the Ward… - Why You Should Volunteer This Christmas
Christmas. It’s a tricky one. It’s December and the build up has begun (well, it begun two months ago but now it’s socially acceptable to start getting excited). The spirit of the season is well underway, complete with iridescent Christmas lights switched on in ceremonies in cities across the country, adverts about free-range turkeys big enough to feed an extended family, Christmas cards plastering shop walls for many loved ones to receive and send. When we think of Christmas, we think of presents and food and carol singers, but there’s more to Christmas spirit than that. It’s a time of collectiveness- a time where people come together in a whirl of overindulgence and appreciation for those they love. It’s acceptable to do nothing but spend quality time together with friends and family, and that’s what makes it such a special and important occasion.
However, as great as Christmas is, every year I can’t help but have a few niggling doubts in the back of my mind. It’s extravagant. A lot of the things that ‘make’ Christmas special are the same things that make it a difficult time of year. For a lot of people, Christmas is not as magical as the media portrays it; those without strong family networks, people with mental health difficulties, the elderly, those without a home, are in hospital or those with financial worries that make aspects of Christmas hard, and we don’t hear about this significant segment of the population enough.
It’s hard to know where to start, but it’s easy to imagine that Christmas is bleak if you have nobody to spend it with. It’s an annual reminder of the loneliness that so many people struggle with-a kick in the teeth I suppose. What’s a turkey sandwich if you have no one to share the “turkey isn’t really that great, is it? Very dry, I’d rather have chicken” conversation with? In some families, children will wake up on Christmas Day and wonder why Santa hasn’t left them any presents-have they not been good this year? Do they not deserve presents? Trying to make ends meet becomes desperate for some over Christmas. There’s an acceptance that money will be spent on luxuries, but for those visiting food banks to rustle up the basics of a conventional Christmas dinner, that simply isn’t feasible.
For me, I’ve spent Christmas on a hospital ward as a teenager so I empathise with all the people who will be doing the same this year. The wonderful staff that come to work over Christmas do their best to make it manageable, but it’s indisputable that it isn’t the same as being at home with loved ones. I was lucky; when I woke up in the morning to the blur of beeping machines, I also woke up to a stocking full of toiletries that had been kindly donated from a local charity, and this made such a difference. The (admittedly pretty low quality) Christmas dinner was served on a long makeshift table through the middle of the ward where all the patients sat together and made the absolute most of the situation. Volunteers gave up their conventional Christmas to make sure that the patients on a paediatric ward had the best one possible.
Every Christmas I have struggled with my mental health difficulties and, on too many occasions to count, I have been helped through by giving to others in ways, big or small. And that’s the point I’m trying to make, I guess. Christmas isn’t just about receiving gifts, love and affection. It’s about giving as well. Volunteers are always needed, somewhere, for someone. Helping out doesn’t mean that you have to forgo the true value of Christmas; that of love and joy, it just means that you can add that to people who need it most.
All over the country, charities of all kinds need volunteers to help with everything that makes Christmas important to us. Homeless shelters always need extra hands. This doesn’t mean that you have to choose to spend your day doing anything different to normal-often, a donation is enough. For example, the charity Crisis has launched a Christmas appeal for donations to reserve a place for someone who is homeless to help them receive the support and education to have a lasting impact and help them out of homelessness in the longer term. This is all for under £30. What could be a better Christmas present?
Wherever you are, there are opportunities to spend time with people who would otherwise be alone - helping cook a Christmas dinner, driving people to places where they can spend Christmas with others, serving food, making gift packages to be sent to children in hospitals. There’s something to fit any skill set, any time constraint and any cause. It’s important. Give it a go. Give it a Google; see what’s available in your area. There will be someone, somewhere who will appreciate whatever you can do. And for me, that’s the true spirit of Christmas. It’s a time for everyone to come together; supporting each other as communities. Give presents to your loved ones and treasure your time with them, of course, but take a moment to make someone else’s Christmas too.
Written by Ceylan Scott
“I’m an author of young adult fiction and an online advocate for mental health awareness. When I’m not writing, I’m spending time with my three dogs and doing photography.”
Ceylan is also an online advocate for mental health awareness at @redefining_normal on Instagram.