Scrooge Makes A Comeback As Crisis Opens its Christmas Shelters For The 30th Year

As Crisis gets ready to open its Christmas shelters for the 30th year, new MORI research reveals that the British public thinks we are more Scrooge-like now than we were a generation ago.

For every person who thinks we are more caring at Christmas nowadays than 30 years ago, there are five people who think we are less caring about others. Indeed, talk of the 'Giving Age' is as spectral as Jacob Marley's ghost: only one person in ten believes that society is more caring at Christmas than it was a generation ago. Those who were alive 30 years ago are especially inclined to feel that society has lost its caring edge at Christmas time.

Goodwill to all men may be in diminishing supply - but it's certainly needed by the 1,000 homeless and vulnerable people expected to attend the Crisis Open Christmas network of shelters. Many have lost touch with their family and friends and cannot bear the thought of going through Christmas alone.

Whilst many of the event's guests were rough sleepers in its early years, today's guests are more likely to belong to the group of 400,000 hidden homeless people who are living in hostels, squats or B&Bs, or to have their own flats. But in spite of having a roof over their heads, their lives are still in crisis. Without the Open Christmas, many would have nowhere else to go to experience the warmth of human company. Last year, 17 per cent of guests told Samaritan counsellors they had suicidal thoughts.

Wherever guests have come from, the Open Christmas provides them with a much-needed break from the chaos and pain of their everyday lives. Above all, it links guests into a wider community of 2,500 volunteers. The volunteers are on hand 24 hours a day to lend a listening ear for individuals who often have no-one to talk to, boosting their self-esteem in a way which inspires and empowers them to start afresh in the New Year and tackle the problems they face.

Whilst companionship has always been an essential part of the Open Christmas, the range of services it offers has evolved over the years. The first volunteers provided a hot meal and a bed for Christmas week but as the years went by, housing advisers, doctors and chiropodists joined the Open Christmas to give guests an annual check-up. Over the years, many lives have been saved.

Teams of experienced doctors, nurses, opticians and dentists offer a comprehensive range of treatments for guests who may have no contact with a GP during the rest of the year. Specialists are on hand for those with acute alcohol, drug and mental health problems and housing workers provide advice to people with nowhere to go when the shelters close.

"Scrooge may be making a comeback - but we won't see him down at the Crisis Open Christmas," said Shaks Ghosh, Chief Executive of Crisis. "Instead, we have the generosity of hundreds of volunteers who give up their time to care for homeless and vulnerable people."

In addition to its work over the Christmas period, Crisis works 365 days a year to help people through the crisis of homelessness.

Technical details

• A main shelter, a drinkers shelter, a women's shelter, a quiet shelter, (for especially vulnerable people,) and a day centre in Deptford will be open from 23 to 30 December in London. The main shelter is in Silvertown, E16.
• The photo-call notice, a media briefing on the 30 years of the Open Christmas, and written case studies are available from the Crisis press office.
• MORI interviewed a representative quota sample of 1,963 adults aged 15+ throughout Great Britain, face-to-face, in-home, using CAPI. Fieldwork was conducted from 29 Nov - 4 Dec 2001. Data have been weighted to the known profile of the British population.