Christmas: Behind the scenes
It’s been a busy few months as we go from another lockdown and into the Christmas season.
Across our projects we are putting in an effort to make Christmas as joyous as possible for people who have a history of homelessness and addiction.
Back in November we launched our Christmas Appeal to raise money so we can provide a delicious hot Christmas meal to as many of our services users as possible. Alongside this we put together a ‘non-contact’ option for people to purchase gifts for vulnerable adults just to make sure our appeal was as COVID free as possible.
When we spoke to service users during August and September, we asked them for their thoughts on Christmas which made up the basis for our appeal in 2020. Hearing words such as hurt, anger, frustration, pain, sadness about a time we all know to be about joy, love, happiness was difficult to hear, but it cemented just how much we want to do to offer a positive festive season for them.
The Staff Make the Difference
As always, Project Managers and Support Workers across the charity are spending many hours, days and weeks putting together plans for our service users to enjoy the best Christmas possible under current conditions.
CEO of SSJ, Trevor Pickup said: “Many of our staff will be working over the Christmas period, as the needs of many people do not stop over the holiday period. This year, staff have more to deal with than normal, with the virus making life more difficult and complex. I appreciate the commitment of my colleagues to continue and to carry on, during this challenging time, and thank them for all their work.”
We receive many positive comments about our work on social media, as well as Just Giving and these comments help boost the morale of staff at difficult times.
Thank you to everybody who has left a positive comment or supported our Christmas Campaign. You make a massive difference to the morale of staff and service users.