A team of five Soldiers Under Sentence (SUS) have been helping 'Crisis', the national charity for single homeless people, with its annual Crisis Open Christmas project to provide shelter for the thousands of homeless people across London faced with spending Christmas out in the cold.

The soldiers, led by Military Corrective Training Centre (MCTC) staff member Sergeant Mark Nichol, have spent the past two weeks delivering food, furniture and home appliances around the capital to properties made available to Crisis. The properties, called Crisis Centres, are being made available to the homeless between 23 and 30 December 2007.

Sgt Nichol said:

"Crisis relies on landlords to make available empty properties for a couple of weeks over Christmas. We have been travelling to the Crisis depot each day and loading up with furniture: from bed and tables to cookers, heaters and sink units, which we then deliver to these properties to make them hospitable.

"We are among a team of thousands of volunteers who support Crisis with this vital service helping the homeless at this time of year."

Pete McGee, the Crisis Operations Manager, said:

"This year, once again, the MCTC has provided invaluable support for the Crisis Open Christmas project. The team of four very willing guys plus a terrific sergeant has come to our aid for the fourth year in succession.

"When we start our centres they are completely bare so we have to set up everything and the boys from the MCTC have been helping the warehouse and logistical teams to make it all possible getting the centres fitted out.

"What's more, a lot of the volunteers can only work before Christmas, but the lads from the MCTC will be coming back in January for two weeks to help with the equally big and important big clear out, when we are very much reliant on them."

Sgt Nichol added:

"The MCTC has been helping Crisis for the last few years by providing SUS (solders under sentence) to assist. Even though they are under sentence, many of the guys are on Stage 3 which means they've been granted more freedom so they can go and work outside."

The role of the MCTC is not only to provide correctional training but also to help educate and rehabilitate troops serving there, and to provide vocational and trade training for those being discharged from the Services.

Service personnel and civilians are sentenced to periods of detention, ranging from 14 days to two years at the MCTC, subject to the Services Disciplinary Acts in accordance with the provisions of the Imprisonment and Detention (Army) Rules 1979 I & D[A] Rules.

The centre has extensive Military Training facilities and an Education Wing that includes rehabilitation, resettlement, vocational and trade training for those subject to discharge from the Services.

Referring to the charity work with Crisis, Sgt Nichol concluded:

"This project is all about putting something back into the community; many of these guys are close to leaving the Services so it's about trying to get them back into civvie street and working with people outside of the Army."