Day 01/05: Bootstrapping The Gate

A lot of activity goes on during the year and the run up to Christmas I won't be covering here, unless you post a question in the comments.

We rock up after a year's break just before Christmas Eve to take over a school or academy that has been loaned to us and we will turn into The Gate (Dependency Centre), ready to receive hundreds of volunteers and guest the next day.

Today we clean the kitchen because our guests are vulnerable to infections, they and our volunteers will be enjoying food cooked and served to a very high health standards you won't enjoy on the High Street, believe me on that.

James and I went off to buy today's kickstart fresh veg whilst the dry goods, cans, freezers and chiller dairy goods were delivered from the central warehouse (The Hub) to get us started. As the kitchen was cleaned to an inch of its life, we familiarised ourselves with the new layout, stored and stacked the food, sorted the utensils and learnt how to operate the industrial machinery.

Our chef flew in from Germany where her London-based corporate redeployed its staff thanks to the B word, a few familiar faces today and new ones.  We worked for five hours to bootstrap The Gate opening tomorrow afternoon, Sunday 23rd December 2018 for the next week.


The numbers of guests on the first day will depend upon many things, usually the weather, what's happening on the streets in terms of shoppers, hostels and shelters closing and other random factors. So it could be quiet or a busy evening tomorrow , we don't know but the kitchen is now ready and stocked for action.

Ironically The Gate has moved from Finsbury Park to just down the road from where I've lived for 20 years, so it's a dead easy walk every day and I'm not be reliant on public transport. 

I've invited my MP and local councillors to drop in, say hello and be briefed on homelessness in London.

Hopefully Marsha De Cordova MP will visit us this year and some of the Wandsworth Borough councillors too, we are on the manor and homelessness is on the rise in the UK as you know.

Last year Jeremy Corbyn dropped in unannounced as we were in his Finsbury constituency, these visits really show you who's on the streets and chance to listen and chat to people you rush past.

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NB: These diary entries are written as a thank-you to everyone who has donated to Crisis, or would still like to. I write this diary to let you know how we spend your money and to encourage you to keep supporting Crisis as it depends upon your donations to fund the huge Christmas operation and year round services -  https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/llct2018

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