Hi Everyone.
This post is slightly different from the ones I usually post on my webpage. It is not about my writing in any way shape or form.
This is about another subject I am very passionate about – helping the homeless.
Where I live in the UK, the closest city I live to is called Newcastle Upon Tyne. It is estimated that nearly 200 individuals will be living rough this Christmas in Newcastle.
Over the years I have assisted charities like Barnardos (training) and The Peoples Kitchen (Cook and server on their mobile unit).
When I left the UK in the first week of December to return to work in Azerbaijan I was very upset at the prospect of not seeing my children over the Christmas period and not returning home until February.
This made me imagine what it must be like for the homeless during this period, where they see everyone else happy and in love spending time together – They will be sad, scared, cold, alone, sick and hungry. I could not imagine how I would cope if faced with such a prospect.
There are some great people and great support for the homeless in Newcastle, such as the Shelter and The Peoples Kitchen and there are some wonderful campaigns running at the present, generating excellent results and social media support, a current example is an idea from the travelling community for people to load up an extra trolley with food at Christmas to distribute to local food banks.
These are all great and bring much-needed support and happiness to our homeless people in this time of need, but I’d like to try a different approach to share a little warmth this time. My Initiative, thought up in the last few days, is to try and reunite homeless persons with their families and friends in time for this festive period.
My idea is cheap and simple. It may work, it may not, but if one person is reunited with their family, then for me this whole process will have been a success.
The idea, one in which I hope you will share as much as possible is:-
Give the gift of a postcard (with a stamp) and or a £5.00 / £10.00 phone card this Christmas.
It really is that cheap and that simple and could change people’s lives by providing them with an opportunity to contact loved ones.
Below I have attached a short video and PowerPoint Presentation on how this should work along with tips and advice for succession.
I want people to share their stories with me, let me know their results, feelings, fears and challenges and I will post regularly on my website during this period.
Please email me at craigwrightson@laughcryandwrite.com
Again, I hope this is successful. It is all down to the power of social media once again to spread the word. It will be good to see how far across the globe this idea travels.
You will definitely brighten somebodies day if you participate in this but remember, you could brighten a families Xmas if it works.
Thank you once again for your support.
Craig Wrightson
One Love x