WEBVTT

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If it weren't for Crisis Organisation
and them doing something like this,

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people would be freezing
over Christmas.

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They wouldn't have nothing
for Christmas.

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I'm here to volunteer over Christmas

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and try and make everyone's
Christmas nice, I suppose!

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You get 7,000 people volunteer
every year for this.

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They are giving up their time,
their Christmas, to help us out.

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This is actually the first year that
I've been fully involved.

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I started at school.

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We were involved in just
setting up the first few days

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before the shelter
was open for the guests.

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Well, I've been working with Crisis
for about six months now

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doing various other projects

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and decided it would be a nice way
to finish the year by doing this.

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Do you want a cup of tea or coffee?

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I was homeless.

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I fell out with my family,
you know, lost contact.

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I lost my job.
I lost my home, you know.

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All in all,
I've probably done about two years.

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It's difficult, scary,
exciting sometimes.

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Yeah, it's you know...

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Especially at times like this
through the year,

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this is the type of thing you need

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to make your situation
that little bit more bearable.

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I come here just basically because

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I'm stuck in a hostel in
Bayswater, West London...

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...and there's nothing there
for anyone over Christmas.

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I was on the streets when I was 12
because I'd run away.

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I was a runaway when I was young.

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Eight days here
is an incredible opportunity

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to sort of start
thinking differently

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and also it can just take one
conversation or, you know,

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just a conversation
and a moment of inspiration

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can change someone's life.

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There's computer workshops,
art workshops, hairdressing,

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there's foot doctors,
there's pretty much everything.

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This to me, is a way of escaping

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from everyday life.

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The hostel where I'm situated

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is in an extremely posh
and rich area of London...

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...and around there
the people's perception

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of us homeless people
around there, is scum.

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They don't realise what it's like.

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They think all homeless people
are druggies,

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all homeless people take drugs
or get drunk every day.

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That's the way they see it.
That's not true.

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Not all homeless people
are druggies or drinkers.

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It is things like this where you can
just change your opinion completely.

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I think especially as a student
you often have...

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...there's quite a lot of negative
perception about the homeless.

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They've never been
in the situation we've been in,

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where we've been living
out there in the cold,

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with no money, with no roof.

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None of them... A lot of them people
don't know what it's like.

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Having more understanding
about how people got there

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and why they are there
in the first place

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helps to change their perception

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of why people are in this
particular position.