That's when Adrian has his brainwave: volunteering! We looked around and found a really good option, the Rotary Club of Battersea Park Christmas Party. Battersea Park is in London, just on the south side of the Thames and they have a huge Christmas lunch for the elderly residents of the area.
We started the day with an early morning walk from Chelsea where we were staying (thanks to Jeff and Sara for the generous use of their flat!) across the Thames to the park. It was all decorated according to a Russian theme and looked incredible. First task was a quick stint in the kitchen making fruit salad for several hundred before the guests started arriving and we had to take care of the people on our allocated table. My table had a few dramas, mostly induced by too much sherry, but all in all it went really well. The guests ranged from a 94 year old gentleman at my table (although I'm sure he wasn't the oldest there!) to some quite sprightly people who must have only been in their 60s.
We were treated to Christmas lunch as well, before doing a bit of dancing (practising our ballroom dancing moves), bingo, and then escorting people back to their houses in minivans. We left at about 6pm and were absolutely exhausted! We went back on Boxing Day morning to help with the clean up and then ended up all having lunch at the pub (fish and chips with mushy peas!) to celebrate a successful event. There would have been about 350 guests and at least 150 volunteers on Christmas Day itself, but the next day was quite small with only about 40 or so people making lunch more manageable!
All in all it was a great experience and I'd definitely recommend it! The rest of the photos are here.
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