Spirit of the season: Reverend Bill Crews’ Christmas Day feast dishes out 3000 free hot meals
By the time Christmas Day 2024 draws to a close, Reverend Bill Crews and his army of more than 200 volunteers will have dished up 3000 free, hot meals – with all the traditional trimmings.
NSW
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The true spirit of the Christmas season was on full display this morning at Ashfield Uniting Church, where Reverend Bill Crews has served up a traditional lunch with all the trimmings to hundreds of people with nowhere else to go.
Premier Chris Minns and his Transport Minister Jo Haylen spent Christmas morning greeting and feeding the patrons of Reverend Crews’ annual feast, donning the plastic blue gloves and carrying platefuls of ham and turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy to hungry Sydneysiders.
Guests were myriad in their reasons for attending; for some rough sleepers it was their only chance to have a hot meal, while for others the lunch was simply a chance to spend time with their community and embrace the spirit of the season.
The Premier paid tribute to all the frontline workers – nurses, doctors, police officers and train drivers – who have sacrificed their Christmas to “keep the state moving” and commended Rev Crew on the “enormous good” he does through the Exodus Foundation.
“Whilst most people in New South Wales can spend time with family and friends, there are many people out there who may be homeless, may be without family, might be alone, might be isolated, and they know that there’s a place they can get a warm meal and a friendly smile,” Minns said.
One man’s absence brought a tinge of disappointment for one young guest, four-year-old Abigail Shrestha, whose Christmas card for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will need to be delivered via local MP Jo Haylen instead.
Little Abby had hoped to present her portrait of the Prime Minister to Mr Albanese by hand after meeting him at last year’s lunch, with her mum Tejina and dad Arun now regulars at the annual event.
“It’s so quiet where we live (on Christmas) and we’re always grateful to be here, we feel the Christmas vibes,” Tejina said.
“I love the human connection, and my husband does too – though we are not Christian, we love Jesus – that’s the love that brings us here.
“I’ll volunteer one day … the cost of living is striking everywhere, but when someone comes and asks for help we can help them.”
Jamie Moore and his tableside neighbours Paul and Chris have been Rev Crews’ guests for up to ten years, coming along to be with friends and avoid the solitude of a Christmas without family.
For Mr Moore, whose only relative – his sister – lives in Tasmania, the day which also happens to be his birthday would otherwise be a lonely affair.
“I’ve been through that (loneliness) but I was fortunate to get over that, it helps to keep busy,” he said.
“It’s lovely, you get a church service and a meal, and you get to meet a lot of interesting people,” Paul added.
Reverend Crews estimated by the end of the day he’ll have provided up to 3000 meals and dozens of Christmas gifts for kids, none of which would be possible without his 200-plus volunteers.
“This really is the Christmas everybody on this Earth should have – if we did more things like this, the world would be a much better place,” the 80-year-old Uniting Church minister said.
“The message, I think, at Christmas really is that change comes from who, and where and when you least expect it – and often it doesn’t come from the powers that be.”
16-year-old Adelaidean Rebecca Scott-Morris was wrangled into lending a hand by her grandfather and long-time Exodus Foundation volunteer Clive Morris, whom she’s in Sydney visiting for the Christmas period.
“He volunteers here every single week, so he’s just been taking me along – I’ve been volunteering here for the past two weeks as well,” Ms Scott-Morris said.
“I’ve met lots of really cool people – lots of interesting personalities. It’s just a very unique experience that I don’t think I would get anywhere else.”
Many of the people they’ve spent their morning serving are from very poor backgrounds, she said, but are “very optimistic”.
“I’ve noticed that a lot of them have much more positive attitudes than richer people that I’ve met, so it’s really cool to hear their outlooks on life.”
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