CHARITIES are considering running extra events for the needy at Christmas to accommodate a surge of volunteers, some of whom they have had to turn away.
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Mission Australia says it is considering putting on more special Christmas events for clients next year because it has turned away more than 100 volunteers already this year.
''It has been really heartening to find so many people wanting to do this on Christmas Day,'' said Mission Australia's national volunteering manager, Sharnelle Magee.
''We don't want to ever turn anyone away because we really appreciate what they can offer but we just don't have enough spots.''
Some events in Sydney filled their volunteer quota back in September.
AMP's head of customer design and digital, Stuart Magrath, has begun his volunteer work, swapping his office attire for a santa suit earlier this month and helping to spread some Christmas cheer at an aged-care centre for the homeless in Surry Hills.
''Working in a large, corporate environment you don't tend to interact much on that level,'' said Mr Magrath who, with colleagues, volunteered to help out with the special lunch at Mission Australia's Charles Chambers Court.
''We decorated the room … and served them a full Christmas lunch,'' said Mr Magrath, who then dressed up as Santa to hand out Christmas presents to each of the 60 residents.
''It was quite a grounding experience,'' he said. ''We felt like we'd done something worthwhile.''
Bill Crews, from the Exodus Foundation, which puts on a hot lunch for several thousand needy people on Christmas Day, said volunteers call to offer their services as early as January.
The foundation reached its required number of volunteers long ago. ''What we say to people is come along anyway and talk to someone who's lonely,'' the Reverend Crews said.
He said it helps volunteers as much as those the service is for.
''For a lot of people Christmas Day is kind of a nightmare. There's a lot of people whose marriages are broken up, you've got people whose family is overseas … there are lots of reasons today why the traditional idea of all the family getting together on Christmas Day doesn't happen.''
But the Exodus Foundation, like the Salvation Army, is keen for people to volunteer at other times in the year.
The Salvos are expecting to help about 350,000 people this Christmas, but still had to turn helpers away because volunteer capacity was reached more than a month before Christmas.
''Christmas brings out that spirit of giving that everyone wants to do and be a part of,'' a spokesman, Major Peter Sutcliffe, said.
Mission Australia said people contacted it in the weeks before Christmas, not realising that they had left their run too late. ''If people are interested, they need to jump on early,'' Mrs Magee said.
While the focus on Christmas Day will be cooking and serving lunch, or just having a chat with someone a little down, more and more volunteers are offering to help out using particular skills. These range from podiatry and yoga, to teaching language skills or how to use computers.
''I'm really surprised when people are so busy that they find the time to do it,'' Mrs Magee said.
