Jess' story

"I'm Jess and I've been volunteering for Crisis for two years now. I started off at the Stratford Day Centre and then I did quite a few shifts at the Aldgate Hotel and the hotel in Docklands as well.

"It's super rewarding. It's very obvious that everyone who comes here is really in need of the services that we offer and for selfish reasons I love feeling like I'm doing something good for others. Seeing people go away at the end of the day happier than they arrived, it's such an amazing feeling, and also all the other volunteers are absolutely great. You get to meet loads of other people who are there for exactly the same reasons you are, to support the community, support vulnerable people, and I've made some amazing friends volunteering.

"Doing the clothing is one of the most rewarding things you can do. All the guests are super keen to get the clothing and each day I think we get through roughly 60 to 80 guests and provide them with the clothing that they need.

"We almost completely rely on donations as a charity. Some guests are rough sleepers, they might not have a permanent place to stay, and as a result of struggling financially, they don't necessarily have the money to be able to afford to buy their own clothing. Particularly over the winter period, people are more in need of thick jumpers and big coats, which are naturally more expensive items. To be able to come in here and pick a coat that they like and is warmer than what they've previously been wearing, that's amazing.

"We typically open the clothing around 11am - we like to open it after the guests have had a chance to get breakfast, because otherwise what we find happens is people are so keen to get clothing that they skip the breakfast part and then come straight to clothing. We want them to have that hot meal in the morning first before they come here.

"Typically, we'll sign the guests up on a list and we'll ask them if they’ve accessed clothing before during the week. Then what we'll do is we'll try and prioritise the people who haven't accessed the clothing before. We'll have volunteers write down what clothing is required, what size they need it in, and then the volunteers will come in here, pick out some items of clothing for them, hopefully give them a few choices to look at and take it to the guests. They can either hold it up to them or try it on and then they'll choose the items of clothing that they want to keep and take away.

"I think everyone feels nice when they get a new item of clothing, something that fits well, something that looks good on them, and that's a feeling that we can all relate to; imagine that almost tenfold when you really don't get that choice on a regular basis. We might feel like we can go shopping and pick out something once a month, and we're in a really fortunate position to be able to do that, but most Crisis at Christmas guests don't have that luxury. To be able to have some choice and get a new item of clothing, even if it's second-hand, it's just a massive confidence boost to them.

"I just want to say a massive thank you to all volunteers and supporters who have made a difference at Crisis at Christmas. As a general volunteer at the day centre in Stratford, I've seen firsthand just how much of a difference peoples’ contributions have made to guests’ lives."