Cockatoo

It wasn't so much the mechanical stuff. More the emptying all the drawers and cupboards, removing the curtains type stuff I hadn't thought of. I probably thought it was done by the laundry fairy that washes and irons my shirts and hangs them in the wardrobe ;) (I'll be in trouble when Debs sees that)

I must admit I hadn't really thought about what happened to the boats over the winter and reading that certainly opened my eyes.

While volunteers do play a big part the generosity of everyone that donates is crucial :)

I've received a taster of the London figures: The difference we made This year guests were welcomed to over 9 centres across London and offered food, clothing, advice and support, health services and a chance to make plans for the future. Over 9,700 volunteers delivered: 644 healthcare consultations 431 dental procedures and consultations 312 eye tests 31,741 meals 4,438 Christmas dinners 784 advice sessions 359 footcare appointments 1 tonne of turkeys 90,000 teabags 5,000 mince pies 1,100 safe places to sleep A big thank you to all :)

A rear line?

Well it's over for another year, Crisis for Christmas that is, but the work of Crisis goes on. A big THANK YOU to those that sponsored me. When all the data from the week has been collated I will get a copy and I'll post here so that you can see what we spent all your money on :) My sponsorship page will be open for another week or so. If anyone has any questions about what we do please post them here or send me a pm. If I can't answer your questions straight away I'll be able to find the answers for you. Thank you all Steve

I got a bit confused when they kept cutting from the small boat (daylight) mentioned in the OP to scenes of ships being torpedoed in the dark as if they were in different time zones not 15 miles away.

Considering he couldn't turn left I thought he did quite well!

Debs and I bought ourselves 2 weeks on the Broads every year with a share of Ranworth Breeze

Ours are dead easy :)

Forum Name. Boat Name. Number of crew Friday. Y/n. Saturday.y/n. Sunday . Y/n chameleon. mike and pat fri/sat/sun Bound2Please. Charlie & Wench Fri/Sat/Sun Windmill Lady , SteveO & NikO - Saturday Nipper Doug and Helen Saturday Night. Timbo, Ellie and The Beagles...possibly on Royal Tudor Maurice Mynah, Nyx, 1, Fri + Sat + Sun Cambridge Cabby. Cerise Lady. Simon and Kate .saturday/Sunday maybe Friday Retired---john & Bern--Fri/Sat/Sun Stranger. TBN. Dave & April fri-sun or sat-sun SteveD Ranworth Breeze 3 adults, 2 Jack Russels Friday Y Saturday Y Sunday maybe Happy Jax 3, Jack Snipe, Col & Lou. Sat night only. Aboattime. Aboat Time. Kevin and Lesley. Fri & Sat Malanka, Martin and Fiona, Saturday Zephyr: Gavin, Cesar & Max the lab Friday / Saturday Stranger, Princess of Light Dave & April Sat-Sun

Now it's official I can change our boat to Ranworth Breeze :) Providing the tides aren't high at Great Yarmouth lol

Debs and I are now part of the Ranworth Breeze Boat Syndicate. Woohoo :)

Got ours :)

That sounds like a hospital PFI deal

I'd have thought having an aircraft carrier with no aircraft was more embarrassing!

This begs the question, why would anyone hesitate to? I realise that people might have their reasons, I just wonder what those reasons are?

I would say that any report of a problem like this could really be helped with a photo. These days when even the cheapest mobile has a very good camera it would be so easy to take a quick snap so the owner, who could be quite a way away, could see exactly what the problem was.

There isn't a picture on Facebook, the post just links to a screenshot:

I started to watch episode 1 but gave up after 10 minutes. An edited 'highlights' would be good

Guys, Robin explained why he got the cellular Ipad in the video. The non-cellular ones don't have GPS :) Re the washer dryer. If you are going to replace it Robin I think I would be inclined to dismantle it for removal rather than dismantle parts of the boat and then replace it with a slimline. Steve

I've always been suspicious of Trip Advisor ratings. Now I know why https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/dulwich-shed-becomes-tripadvisors-number-one-ranked-restaurant-in-london-after-fake-reviews-a3712606.html

Thank you Vaughan, Nobody has asked the question "What do you do there?" yet but I'll answer it anyway :) We have 3 shifts covering 24hrs at the centre I volunteer at and I run the shift office. When someone asks "who deals with xyz?" the answer is usually "see the shift office". Our official job is keeping records of who had access to which services, liaising with other centres over transfers of people and supplies, controlling the centre vehicle and petty cash but we get tasked with all sorts of problems to solve. I have a great team, well it's only two others but 'team' sounds better who know the paperwork inside out and I tend to subscribe to the philosophy that it is usually easier to ask forgiveness than permission It's also a role that satisfies my innate nosiness. I get to see what happens all over the centre.

Every year at Crisis there is always one memory that stays with you. This was last years. One of the guests turned up in a wheel chair. Tony (all names changed) was a disabled ex Para Sgt that had been living on the streets for a while. He was accompanied by his self-appointed carer, another rough sleeper that had taken it upon himself to do what he could for Tony. How does the system break down so much that an 18 stone, paralysed, ex para in a wheelchair fall through the cracks and end up sleeping rough? We will never know, all we can do is try and help. Tony was totally unable to get out of the wheelchair, I'll let your imagination work out the state he was in, he had withdrawn totally. It took 3 volunteers to get him cleaned up and into clean clothes. Eventually we got him to tell us his Army number which turned out to be key. With the help of SSAFA we were able to find out that he was originally from Ealing (name not changed, I only protect the innocent) who had repeatedly refused him any help at all. The Crisis advice team, led by Lisa, swung into action. Lisa (not her real name) is a barrister in real life and I have to say I would prefer her defending me to prosecuting. Lisa (to Ealing council): "You have a statutory obligation under blah blah para blah sub para blah to assist this person, I am going to make sure you fulfil that obligation" It took a while but by the end of the week Tony, and his carer, had acommodation. SSAFA had helped with furniture, Veterans Aid (another forces charity) with white goods and Crisis had provided a care package (think of this as a months shopping) to cover them until benefits kicked in. Our Advice guys were on hand to help them with claiming benefits, support for the carer and dealing with the everyday challenges that they would face. Obviously many more were helped but this one person made my Crisis at Christmas worthwile. It costs just over £20 provide one person with a place at Crisis. Every couple of quid makes a real difference to peoples lives :)

Thanks Jim. You guys are going to make a real difference