Chris Summerson
A volunteering veteran - 38 years of volunteering
I heard about Crisis at Christmas at my local youth club. It might have been '78 or '79. I thought it would be a good way to spend Christmas. It seemed like a positive thing to do, and more fun than a family Christmas. I was 18 and I've been going every year for the past 39 years.
My first impressions of Crisis Christmas was that it was it was very hippy dippy, really relaxed. You could basically turn up when you wanted. Not at all organised compared to the ones I've been to since. The idea of turning up when you can would mean that shifts weren't assigned so some people had to be told to go home for their own good, because otherwise they'd stay all night and not get any rest.
There was something charming about the chaos back then but it's become a lot more organised with the years, which is a really good thing. It's grown a lot but retained the magic of Christmas.