While many are sitting down for lunch with family there are tens of thousands of Australians experiencing homelessness this Christmas. Today Wayside Chapel will hold its annual Christmas Day street party in Sydney putting on a spread for about a thousand people.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00 Well the plans are on in earnest now.
00:04 From 5am we've had teams and volunteers all over and up and down the street getting ready
00:09 for our famous Wayside Chapel Street Christmas Party.
00:13 So we're going to kick off at 9 o'clock with some breakfast and then lead into a street
00:17 chapel service with the Sydney Street Choir and if we're doing everything right after
00:21 lunch by about 1.30 you'll be in Sydney's biggest street conga line as the DJ gets us
00:27 pumping for the afternoon.
00:29 That's quite a long conga line.
00:30 What's on the menu?
00:33 Well this morning we're going to just start off with some fruit salad and some cereal
00:37 but then we're going to move into a full Christmas dinner made with love and all the trimming.
00:41 So we're going to have, we've had over 500 kilos of ham cooked up, cut up and then we've
00:48 also had 125 kilos of prawns so if you're not drowning in Thousand Island dressing we
00:55 must have done something wrong and then leading into a beautiful baked lunch.
01:00 John you've seen the forecast for today and you saw the weather yesterday, are you worried
01:03 the weather might put a dampener on proceedings?
01:07 Nothing could dampen our enthusiasm and spirits, though we might get a bit of rain just to
01:11 wash us out periodically.
01:13 We have some undercover areas here that people can huddle in but you know many of our community
01:17 are all too familiar with sleeping out rough so we'll be joining them today regardless
01:22 of the weather conditions to celebrate what we want to make a really special and precious
01:28 day for everyone.
01:30 One of the big issues this year has of course been the cost of living crisis and I wonder
01:35 John if you've seen an increase in people that are coming forward needing support from
01:40 groups like yourself this year and particularly for this Christmas?
01:45 Look our numbers say that over this last calendar year we've doubled the number of people who
01:49 are coming to seek us out for support and that's really been alarming over the last
01:53 12 months and you know I've had, you know, we've all, the whole charity sector and who
01:58 were celebrated in both those messages from our leaders last night deserve a real big
02:04 pat on the back because of the increased pressures that they've faced to be able to cope with,
02:10 to be able to care for everyone who has come through the doors which is, you know, we've
02:14 seen more people who are from blue collar working class backgrounds where rent rises
02:19 and interest rate rises and have just tipped them over the edge so it's been a really tough
02:25 year for many people and we often see that first start to reveal itself on the front
02:30 lines here at charities like Wayside.
02:33 Yeah I was going to ask are you, like other charities, also seeing an increase in employed
02:37 people, people who maybe even have, you know, homes and mortgages but they're just struggling
02:42 to put food on the table?
02:45 Often the poorest people are the ones who are just keeping their heads above water or
02:49 barely to be able to put food on the table and pay their rent and bills and so they're
02:55 often the ones who this year have had to make the choices between heating or eating, between
03:00 presents or food for the family on a day like Christmas as well.
03:04 And I guess a lot of people will be celebrating, you know, perhaps a big lunch with their families
03:09 but loneliness can also be a big issue this time of year and that's one of the things
03:13 you're trying to tackle with your event.
03:17 Yeah look I think the growing sense of isolation and loneliness is something that has really
03:23 taken over many of our hearts, particularly over the last three years with lockdown it's
03:27 really kind of brought that into sharp focus.
03:29 Our street Christmas party, whilst we cater for people who are sleeping rough, it's open
03:34 to everyone so we often have people who are first year out of a divorce so this is the
03:40 first year they're not going to have access to their children.
03:43 Others who are grandparents who are on the off year, you know, we have people from all
03:47 walks of life come and celebrate because our mission is about creating community with no
03:51 us and them and I really believe if we come together in that spirit of love and non-judgement
03:56 that we'll see amazing and surprising things, particularly often these things like joy,
04:01 peace and love are found in the most unexpected of places so what better place to do that
04:05 than in the gutter.
04:06 And just finally John, what's your Christmas message for the community this year?
04:13 Let's carry on, let's hold on together.
04:15 It's been a really tough couple of years and I see all of you who are struggling, everyone
04:20 who's been out there working in the charity sector who's been going above and beyond but
04:24 also to all of you who have struggled to just keep a roof over your families heads.
04:31 This year just always remember that it's not what's under the tree that's most important
04:36 but who's around it.
04:37 We'll get through these tough times, hope is always born in the darkest of places and
04:42 find somewhere where you are known and loved and celebrate with joy.
04:47 Very well said Pastor Reverend John Owen, you have a fabulous event and a very Merry
04:51 Christmas and spread the love today.
04:55 Merry Christmas to you and to everyone out there Casey.
04:57 [BLANK_AUDIO]