Just before Christmas, in the middle of our preparations and operations, we received an offer via a family friend of one of our partners, of some equipment from an office that was closing down. Turned out it was from staff in the famous Lunar House in Croydon. There was the offer of a tumble dryer, which was particularly attractive, as well as a washing machine. Plus kitchen equipment.
Sometimes these types of offer can be stressful and unproductive – it depends who is offering and how it is organised. Short notice, long distances, no packing assistance, an expectation that we will be grateful for anything, can make these responses tough and not always positive. No staff member at the Commonside Trust owns a car or van, so we have to hire one. This costs money so it has to be worth our while. On the particular day that was offered for collection, it was icy cold, with the wind whipping through the high-rises in Croydon like a slap in the face.
Two staff members made the journey – partly because of the lifting and carrying but equally because the prospect of driving around Croydon in a large van, if you don’t habitually drive at all, let alone try to find the trades entrance of a secure government building in pre-Christmas Croydon was nerve-jangling. I had Shaq, who by the way, this time last year was homeless in Croydon, one of our caretakers, to help me navigate and this was also reassuring.
We were particularly lucky because Anita, our contact in the Home Office, sent some perfect and thoughtful instructions and we arrived on-time. We arrived to find a massive ‘decanting’ and recycling operation in progress at the back of Lunar House. It was clearly a huge job, and the staff teams involved were keen to make sure as much as possible was used, re-used, recycled, etc. We were struck by the care taken by our Home Office staff helpers, who brought the equipment to the van, helped us to load, asked whether or not such and such an item was of use of not, asked where it was going, and seemed genuinely pleased with being involved. It felt very collaborative and I was really grateful. The items were carefully wrapped and labelled, in stout boxes – all this makes a big difference.
In the end, we departed from Croydon with a van full of very useful items, including equipment that went immediately into use in our kitchen. The very next day we were serving a full turkey-roast dinner to over 75 people in our main hall, and new set of crockery was extremely timely. We also put the catering pans etc, straight into service.
So we took some photos to share with our supporters from former Lunar House and would like to thank them and send them our very best wishes for their working lives in the new officers and our sincere thanks for their thoughtfulness, kindness and hard work.
