Just A Lovely Xmas Carol Or Two. By Uncle Monty.

Just A Lovely Xmas Carol Or Two.

By Uncle Monty.

Photos By Alex Albion.

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Friday evening rush hour was in full swing at
London’s Charing Cross Railway Station soon
after the talented 16-member St. Martin’s

Singers had assembled there to raise annual

Christmas Funds for The Connection at St.

Martin-in-the-Fields for its well-known
homeless mission that is located at the

heart of the world famous

Trafalgar Square.

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St. Martin’s has helped to feed and clothe

the destitute, the unwanted, and the home-

less for centuries upon a time. While St.

Martin-in-the-Field is renowned the

world over for its classical music concerts

and its Angel recordings, it is also the Church’s

Anglican faith and mission to serve all of those,
who for one reason or another, have fallen

upon hard times and personal plight.

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St. Martin’s Singers with Sky News recording

its upcoming Xmas feature on St. Martin’s.

I was interviewed as part of the feature, too.

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As someone who was fed, clothed and housed

by The Connection when I first became home-

less after losing my home to a catastrophic fire,

I have for the past four Christmases done my

little part to help raise money by joining St.

Martin’s to say my little “thank you” for the
real help I was given at The Connection.
We have a moral and spiritual duty to pay
back in kind for the kindness given when one

was down and out. As a devout Anglican, I

believe that if everybody did a little toward

helping their fellow humankind, our world
would then be alot better place than it is today

with rising numbers of homeless around the

world among other human conditions that

can be solved or alleivated if we would all
just pull together, for once in awhile, to help

one another. It may sound "corny" to those

who don’t give a damn, but perhaps one day

thru their own life’s trials and tribulations,

such will not be viewed as "corny" by

them in the end. Let us pray for them.
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A few nice St. Martin's ladies ...

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The St. Martin’s Singers are truly a fine
amateur choir that saw some members of the
public stop, tarry, and listen to them appreci-

atively as others rushed on madly by to get
to their train connections to their suburban

homes or weekend destinations. It was the

last but one Friday before Christmas Day.

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I do hope St. Martin's did okay for its annual

fundraising for The Connection. But things down

at my own Big Issue pitch don't bode well for this

2oo8 Christmas with my days looking like regular

ones, so far, instead of the usual extra Xmas giving

and spirit that looks pretty dead so far at London's

Covent Garden at where I sell my homeless mags.

I'd say I'm 50% off from last year's Christmas take

at my pitch aside from the lousey weather that

impedes such Big Issue vendors like me from

gaining that extra at Christmastide by selling on

the streets. Sure folkz are giving, but I'd say

such kind folkz are giving me 50% less than

they did last year. When one of my fellow

vendors came by to visit with me yesterday,

he said he thought this Christmas wasn't

looking very good for us Big Issue vendors.

But I told him, "Listen mate, I'm sorry it

seems that way and I agree you're probably

right, but for me I've already had my Christ-

mas by the expensive gift of a lifetime that

was given to me to travel to Australia and

back for free ... That's what I call a real

Xmas gift that it truly was to me. So I've

got nothing to really complain about at

this Christmas ..."
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Below: A St. Martin’s parishioner who reg-

ularly helps collect money for the homeless

and who always plays her small tambourine

to accompany the carol singers at Charing

Cross. Sorry, I didn't catch her name ...

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Roger Shaljean, a beloved and respected

figure at The Connection and, of course, at

St. Martin-in-the-Fields. And, rightly so ...

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Roger Shaljean, 69, (shown above) is an

institutional figure at St. Martin’s, where for
years he has not only organized the Christmas

Appeal for The Connection, but he has also
been instrumental in organising the annual

interfaith Commemoration Service for the
Homeless Dead at St. Martin-in-the-Fields.

And for over 40 years, Roger has been a qualified

social worker. He is a licensed Anglican Reader,

too, at the Diocese of London. He lives with his

family at Salop. He and I regularly exchange
emails though we don’t always get much of a

chance of seeing each other during the regular

year. We are both active and very busy people

doing our good thing, so to speak. Without Roger

at some point in the future, I’m not quite sure

how St. Martin’s will recover after he’s gone.

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In the meantime, however, The St. Martin’s

Singers sang on at Charing Cross with such

lovely Christmas carols as Ding Dong Merrily

on High; Come, Come, Emmanuel, Once in

Royal David's City; Silent Night, Holy Night,

and The Holy and The Ivy, among the 30

carols they sang so beautifully and almost

reverentially at times.
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Myself at Charing Cross Railway Station.

Myself doing my Xmas thing (far right,
above) with St. Martin’s Singers while getting

folkz to drop money into my Connection bucket.
I hope I raised perhaps several £100’s during my

three lovely one hour-Xmas Carol sessions for

the St. Martin’s gathering at London's Charing

Cross. All the folkz from St. Martin's also had,

I am sure, a good experience. I saw some of

the regular old hands there again this year. I

was unable, however, to accept an invitiation

to later attend the annual St. Martin's Vol-

unteer's Party due to an earlier commitment

to dine with American friends at the Inter-

national Photographers Association dinner.

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In any event, I plan to be present again at
Charing Cross for next year's St. Martin's
fundraiser for The Connection. If you wish

to donate to them for Christmas, please

contact them directly either online or by

phone. Just look for The Connection at

google or in the phone book. They're

easy to find and easier to give to, too.

Failing that, be sure to come and see

The St. Martin Singers next year at

Charing Cross for just a lovely

Xmas carol or two ...

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Kudos, Uncle Monty.

+Eve of 3rd Sunday of Advent, 2oo8.

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