No room at the inn for volunteers this Christmas

The Salvation Army and Crisis have had to turn applications from potential volunteers down, as they have had too many people offering their time.

Claire Bonham, Volunteer Development Manager for The Salvation Army told Premier: “It’s a lovely problem to have… it’s hard to be critical of people who want to volunteer at Christmas, and we’re really not!”

Explaining the reason for the boom, she said: “It’s more on people’s minds at this time of year, when people are thinking about family and counting their blessings in a way, to think about those who don’t have what we have, people who are out on the streets when it’s really cold, people who are lonely, perhaps people who are in debt.”

“It’s a fantastic opportunity to give back, but unfortunately our programmes do get filled quite quickly.”

Asked if the Salvation Army had to turn away volunteers at any other part of the year, she said: “There is something really special about Christmas.

“It allows people to take stock, and I think as Christians we’re thinking more about the incarnational ministry of Jesus at this time of year and that leads people to think about those who are less fortunate, so it tends to be mainly Christmas [that is busy].”

In the absence of volunteering opportunities, the Salvation is asking people to pray for its ministries over the Christmas period.

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