Tea Run

SANDWICH-MAKING

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Sandwich-makers are the backbone (or is it the filling?!) of the Saturday morning food service. We meet on a Friday evening to prepare the food and clothes for the tearun teams to take out on the Saturday.

We are keen to ensure that the food we serve is of good quality, healthy and prepared under hygienic conditions. Having experimented ourselves and received sandwich donations from various sources, we now stick to simple sandwiches - ham, cheese, jam etc. At 5 am anything more exotic doesn't go down too well!

Sandwich-making is a great area to volunteer in if you only have a small amount of time to spare or work in the West End of London.

Although different teams have slightly different routines, the timetable is broadly the same. We meet at about 6.00 pm to shop and then arrive at the All Souls Clubhouse by around 6.30 pm. Sandwich-making takes a couple of hours and we are usually finished by 8.30 pm. Sometimes we go out afterwards for a bite to eat, or round the corner to the pub. Other times we hurry home to watch a favourite TV programme, or to go out to a party. Either way, it's all pretty painless, and yet it makes a real difference to homeless people, some of whom walk miles to get our sandwiches.

Sandwich-making 04 C

Getting stuff from the storage cupboard

Are you using that?

If I'm quick, I'll be home in time for supper!

TEA RUN

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The tea run is a weekly service that operates during the early hours of Saturday morning all year round. The tea run started in 1988 and is now a welcome and reliable service to a diverse community of rough sleepers.

A mini-bus of volunteers attends six stops in Central London providing sandwiches, tea and coffee, and an assortment of clothing.

Through the tea run, ASLAN volunteers reach out to some of the most vulnerable and damaged members of society, who are commonly forgotten or ignored. In this way ASLAN hopes to demonstrate Christ’s unconditional love.

There are four teams, each working one Saturday in the month in rotation, supported by a sandwich-making team and committed prayer partners.

Volunteers meet at the All Souls Clubhouse at 4:00 am, where the preparation for the tea run is shared between the team members. Jobs include:

» Making two large urns of hot drinks

» Organising the sandwiches into batches for each stop

» Sorting through the clothing (there may be requests from rough sleepers for particular items from the previous Saturday)

» Assigning duties to individuals e.g. driving the mini-bus, handing out invitations for the Entertainment Evenings

Finally, prior to departure, we spend about 10 minutes in prayer committing the run to the Lord.

The mini-bus leaves the clubhouse at 5 am, stopping first at Covent Garden and then onto various stops including The Strand and ending near Waterloo Station. At each stop we dispense tea, coffee, sandwiches and clothing. We try to encourage people who are depressed or distressed, and to point them towards services which may be able to help them. We always try to be cheerful and loving, mirroring - however inadequately - how Jesus feels about them.

We aim to arrive back at the Clubhouse at approximately 8:30 am, and after cleaning and tidying up, we all join together for a cooked breakfast at a local café.

During those early hours we meet a wide variety of individuals from all kinds of backgrounds: male, female, old, young, educated, illiterate, ex-offenders, alcoholics, drug-users and those presenting a diversity of mental health problems. Emotions vary from welcoming and grateful to angry, depressed and moody. Being an ASLAN tea-run volunteer is an opportunity to grow as a Christian. We are called to love the unloved, which by our own strength is impossible, but by God’s grace is a wonderful reality. It's also a great opportunity to meet some of the loveliest, kindest, funniest characters you could ever hope to meet!

The tea-run acts as a bridge between the streets and the other services that ASLAN provides, as detailed elsewhere on this website.

Volunteers are from a wide spectrum of backgrounds and occupations and no former experience is required. All that we ask is that volunteers share a commitment to the work, being reliable and faithful in prayer for each other and those we serve.

Tea Run 03 D

4.00 am: Filling the urns with tea and coffee before departure

5.15 am: We arrive at the first stop, at Covent Garden

People arrive from nowhere and make a beeline for the hot drinks and sandwiches

As soon as people have got a hot drink inside them, they form a queue for the clothes

In summer, it begins to get light towards the end of the run, and everyone is a little more cheerful

Although clothes are running low, a straggler makes a hopeful enquiry (note the bare feet!)

One of the teams enjoying breakfast together at the end of the run

WANT TO READ MORE?

You can read the Editorial on Page 1 of ASLAN News 2002 ("... even a cup of cold water...") or Sheila Watters' article on Page 3 of ASLAN News 2003 (Tea Run Fun)

click here for ASLAN News >>

HOW TO VOLUNTEER

Click below to fill in an online application form

click here >>

Or email our Project Support Manager

click here to email Claudia >>

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