For us, being an underdog person means having a certain approach to life. It means being inspiring, uplifting, going where others often won’t, being a hero and a champion. Here at JAA we consider ourselves to be underdog people – showing some of these traits, without ego or bravado.
To demonstrate this, we asked the office if anyone had ever given up their Christmas to volunteer for a homeless charity during the festive season. Well, you guessed it, the team didn’t disappoint.
Mike
Mike, who many of our clients may not have met but he’s been keeping our media owners paid in a timely manner for decades, volunteered for Crisis for over 20 years. He started out just doing the festive period but over the years began to do more and more and ended up doing a lot of food distribution work in his local community throughout the year.
Mike told us: “The reason I started volunteering is because, well, a lot of people are worse off than us. I met a lot of people and I found I could relate to them. They had just hit upon hard times. Football was often a good ice-breaker, I’d wear my City shirt and you’d just get chatting.
“I learnt a lot about myself too, I’m a tall bloke and had training in how to de-escalate situations when people might try and target you. I remember one time I had this chap when I was on gate duty who was really aggressive. I talked him into coming into the project and by the time he came in all his aggression had gone.”
Caroline
Caroline added; “I did a Crisis at Christmas when I was working over the holidays. I was on emergency call whilst working with a yachtswoman sailing around the world. It meant I had hours and hours of time when I could be doing something useful as long as I was on the end of a phone – so I signed up to help in a London project. I didn’t really know what to expect but as it turned out, I played a lot of Connect4 as people were just looking for a bit of company, a bit of warmth and a bit of festive fun.
“I also did some work in the IT rooms working with a more experienced volunteer to support people with improving their IT skills. I would definitely recommend volunteering at Christmas, it’s a lonely time for many people and if you have a spare few hours over an extended period you can give back and get a lot out of it. I’ve got young kids now but I hope to do it again.”
James
James joined his wife and her family as they supported a local kitchen over the Christmas period to ensure a hearty festive meal was had by those that might not be able to share one with family and friends. “When my wife first told me this was a family tradition, I thought what an annoyingly nice thing to do….but you know it sums up everything they are about as a family – doing something together that helps someone who might not be as fortunate as them.”
The Spirit of Giving
The festive season is always busy for charity clients, especially those that work with vulnerable or homeless people. Last year our work for the youth homeless charity Centrepoint drove awareness about the experiences young people have on the streets of the capital. It successfully drove donations and ensured more young homeless people were safe of the cold festive period.
