How I found the true spirit of Christmas
Banbury Guardian, 28th December 2006
WHEN most people were opening their presents and tucking into their turkey on Christmas Day, a team of volunteers were working to make the festive season special for Banbury’s homeless community. Sarah Goldthorpe went along to help out.
FOR visitors to the Beacon Centre, this time of year is not about unbounded celebration but about getting through a day they associate with much happier times. About 17 visitors used the centre based at St Mary’s Church Centre in Horse Fair, Banbury, between 10am and noon on Christmas Day to get warmth, food and support at a time when the rest of us take these things for granted.
I hadn’t prepared myself for the humbling experience of meeting them all that morning - a group of friendly, welcoming people who have found themselves in the incomprehensible position of being homeless in the 21st century.
Gerry Slater is a familiar face in the centre, and indeed around Banbury town centre. Coming to the Beacon Centre was the highlight to his Christmas Day - a chance to get some food, a hot drink and chat with other homeless visitors. "This place means a great deal to me," said Mr Slater, who has been using the centre on and off for about four years. "I love Christmas even now, and always have done since I was a kid. "You can come in here and get a cup of tea and something to eat and I think the Beacon Centre is the best thing that’s ever happened in this town. "Visitors here don’t get a great deal of help from the council or anyone else."
Like the other visitors, some of whom didn’t want to be photographed, Mr Slater is full of praise for centre co-ordinator Nigel Deakin. "You won’t find a better guy than Nigel," Mr Slater said. "He will do anything for the people here; if you have a problem he comes and sits beside you and helps you to sort it out. "I tell him my problems and nine out of ten times he comes up with a solution. "If there were more people like Nigel this world would be a lot better."
As I help serve Christmas Day snacks, drinks and the favourite ‘Beacon Special’ (baked beans and cheese on toast) I realise everyone at the centre feels the same. Their day is brightened with Christmas songs, crackers, food gift bags and chat but it is the support and feeling of having people there that is the real lifeline to them.
And people who use the Beacon Centre are not always homeless like Mr Slater. Often they come to seek support and comfort after being marginalised because of mental-health problems, illness or alcohol and substance abuse.
Michael Draper, 25, has mental and physical health problems and visits the Beacon Centre for food, warmth and company. He sleeps rough several nights a week and has even spent time living in a tent on the outskirts of the town near Tesco in Lockheed Close, Banbury, with Mr Slater. He was planning on visiting family in the town later on Christmas Day but said the centre was a lifeline for him at this time of year. "I don’t come all the time but Nigel is lovely and if it wasn’t for this place, and the fact I sometimes stay at my mum’s, I would be dead," he said.
The Beacon Centre is open four mornings a week and has had more than 44,000 visits since it was set up in 1994. Christmas Day and Boxing Day sessions are an integral part of this support service. Mr Deakin said: "We try to bring a taste of Christmas to those for whom Christmas is a difficult or lonely time, with memories of Christmases and families they have had in the past.
"We try to brighten the day for them and make it a happy morning. "If you can get the atmosphere then you can touch people and really help lift them." Like myself, Sainsbury’s supermarket supervisor Sarah Theobald, 21, of Bretch Hill, was volunteering for the first time time on Monday. "I just thought it would be nice to help with other people when I am going home to a great big Christmas dinner," she said. "I’m glad I did it as I have really enjoyed it". Her mother Judi Elkin of West Street, Banbury, who was also helping said: "I think it’s lovely because the visitors can all get together for a chat. "They are really friendly and it is a nice atmosphere and Nigel is a lovely, unassuming man."
Christmas Day may not be the happiest of times for everyone but, thanks to people like Mr Deakin, it is not a totally hopeless one. As I help with the washing up, a visitor tells me he hopes the rest of my Christmas Day is as enjoyable as the Beacon Centre has made his. But what he doesn’t know is that, for the first time, I discovered what the ‘spirit of Christmas’ is really about.
The Beacon Centre is always looking for new volunteers. To help out contact Mr Deakin on 07814 446131.
