Orphans' Christmas at Federation Square

Post

Subscribe

Thu 25 Dec 2014

Just what exactly are Christmas orphans?

Well you don't have to be a real orphan, to be a Christmas day orphan. Anyone who finds themselves newly located to a city and has not yet made any friends or doesn't have any family living in that city, can be termed an orphan for the day. Perhaps this is you, or maybe due to circumstances such as work or budget this year, you are not able to travel to be with family members.

Some people are estranged from their families and just don't want to or can't be near them. You could also be traveling in Australia and don't know anyone in Melbourne apart from your hotel reception staff. International students and the homeless are most welcome. You may even be a family recently come to Melbourne with no other connections here. Therefore anyone who finds themselves alone for Christmas Day with nowhere to go is an official Christmas orphan.



Never fear because the City of Melbourne cares about you, and will be providing a Christmas Day event only for Christmas orphans. So don't sit home alone and watch re-runs of old Christmas movies or wash the kitchen floor. Hey its Christmas! Get up bright and early and head into the city to this event at Federation Square, opposite Flinders Street Station.

The days program will kick off at 9am with a free breakfast buffet sponsored by Melbourne organisation Hopskotch until 11am. This Breakfast Hop Buffet is seeking donations of food for the community event, and also seeks corporate sponsorship. In addition they need help with staff, and are asking anyone from the hospitality and catering industries to step up and volunteer for the morning. Even as little as 2 hours would be appreciated. They need people to do food preparation and food service including baristas and also volunteers for crowd management. If you currently do this work and can give the gift of giving this Christmas to those less fortunate then they really need to hear from you. Go here to volunteer.



For the Christmas orphans all they have to do is turn up for breakfast between 9-11am. If you can't make it up out of bed then arrive by 12 noon when there will be a movie marathon showing on the big screen. Five movies will be screened so they are sure to continue into the evening. See the Federation Square website (details below) for the movie program that's full of Christmas classics. There are deck chairs to sit on, but it does get very warm on the square so bring a hat. Parking is available onsite as Federation Square has its own carpark accessible from Batman Avenue or Russell Street.



During the afternoon you can also join in some games provided by theatre performance artists Pop Up Playground. These are aimed at both kids and adults, and are loads of fun. All activities for the Christmas Orphans Day are free. What a wonderful day, so if you find yourself in Melbourne with the Christmas blues this year don't be alone. Come along and be in the company of people who will contribute to make a special day for you.

Merry Christmas everyone.

#breakfast
#christmas
#cinema
#community_events
#city
#outdoor
#december
!date 25/12/2014 -- 25/12/2014
%wnmelbourne