Cyrenians Wrapped
These past weeks many of my wonderful colleagues have transformed into little elves, wrapping hundreds of parcels so families who would otherwise go without have gifts and food at Christmas. Despite the laughter as they work, I know they are feeling the pressure of knowing so many more families need this support, not just at Christmas but all year round.
My colleagues, who are supporting folk in the crisis of homelessness, are working with more people than ever but because our housing system is well and truly broken, the time it takes to get them even into temporary, far less settled, accommodation is growing every day. The human toll on both those we are supporting, and my wonderful colleagues is harder and harder to bear.
Despite this building pressure, we were delighted to receive an early Christmas present of three more years of funding for three of our programmes supporting young people struggling with school. We were granted this money because we have been able to show we are really successful in supporting over 500 young people each year, with few or no qualifications, into college or work. The same young people that without our projects, would possibly go without any support or someone telling them they’re capable. Yet, our experience tells us, welcome as the money is, it won’t be enough to meet growing demand and we will be in a similar position, knowing that there are many more people in need of our support who we won’t have the resources to reach.
It's not quite “no room at the inn”, but we’re not far off.
The original story of gifts at Christmas - gold, frankincense and myrrh - was a story of symbols. The gifts were signs of a big change coming, signs of transformation and hope. We see every day the ever increasing need to bring signs of the possibility of change and hope to the growing numbers of people at risk of, or experiencing, homelessness. It is harder than ever to stay hopeful in these difficult times, but at Cyrenians we are determined to keep being hopeful.
When all else around us feels like it is crumbling, it is the one thing which keeps us going, not just at Christmas, but all year round.