Christmas Challenge 2012

Christmas, New Year and Bank Holidays. For most of us, it's a time of celebration, but for those who are homeless, it's too often a day of painful memories of wrong turns, families lost and forgotten love. Your gifts help restore broken lives and broken families all year-round, providing homeless men, women and children with hot meals, safe shelter, and hope. But at Christmas, your generosity gives them something more here at The Whitechapel Mission, a taste of family and the love we all crave. Thank you! Volunteering at the Whitechapel Mission Throughout the Christmas period, as well as at other times of the year, we hand over the work of the Whitechapel Mission to volunteer groups.

These groups are made up of no less than 4 and no more than 8 people and they are responsible for ensuring the continued services of the Whitechapel Mission. We supply one member of staff to supervise/assist. The Centre opens at 6am and closes at 11am each day. You will be required to be on-site by 5:45 latest. We do have a car park available for your vehicles. We do not know how many will arrive on any given day. It may be as few as fifty or as high as two hundred, but we feel that if there is only one person knocking on our door then we should open that door and make them welcome.

The first task of the day will be to prepare and cook breakfast. This requires the preparation and cooking of bacon, sausages, beans, tomatoes, mushrooms, hash browns and eggs. Buttering of bread and making of toast. We will make and serve over 400 cups of tea, and 600 cups of coffee.

At 8am, some of the group will serve breakfast, while others continue to cook more breakfasts and others will collect plates, wipe tables and wash up. There will be a rush at 8am for breakfast, which will last for about 20-30 minutes and then continue for an hour or two at a steady rate.

At 9am, we will offer clothing to those that want it. During all of the morning, we will be giving out towels, soap, razors, shampoo and toothbrushes. At about 10:15am we can begin to clean the kitchens down and prepare it for the next days group.

By 11am the centre will close and we will begin the big clean-up. The Dinning area will need to be swept and mopped. The toilets will need to be cleaned and hosed. The shower area will need to be cleaned and prepared for the following morning. By 11:30 we should be able finished for the day.