While the majority of Britain enjoys the festive season with their families, for some it will be spending it with their workmates, away from home and dry land.
For the offshore workforce, Christmas is a regular working period. There are no long lie-ins, stacks of presents to open, button-popping dinners or mulled wine to celebrate the occasion.
Instead, there will be a a rig to maintain or an FPSO to steer; if they’re lucky, they might finish early on the 25th to gather at the mess, sing a few carols, share a meal cooked up by the catering staff… and maybe open a special parcel from a group of Aberdeen volunteers.
“It’s very tough on the guys offshore – they’re away from their family and friends, they don’t have presents to open, they can’t have a drink or do the social things that we all do on Christmas day, like put your feet up and relax,” says pastor Howard Drysdale, the creator of the Christmas Parcel initiative.
As superintendent and port chaplain at the Aberdeen Seafarers Centre, Howard’s responsibility is to assist offshore staff by a variety of means – from conducting marriages to providing moral support in difficult times.
Tonight he is assisting a group of volunteers that are wrapping hundreds of parcels, looking to make Christmas Day a little bit brighter for 3000 seafarers working in the North Sea waters.
“This is the final stint. We have already done about 2500 and hopefully tonight we’ll finish off with 500 more,” Howard says.
The evidence is scattered across the upstairs of the Aberdeen centre: cardboard packages filled with festive-looking parcels and rolls of wrapping paper fight for floor space with boxes of toiletries, packets of sweets … and a huge pile of colourful woolly hats.
“The woolly hat is the most important part of the parcel. Seafarers love it, it keeps the head warm. Particularly foreign seafarers really enjoy it,” Howard explains.
Each hat is then filled with a variety of practical things offshore workers can make use of, including dental kits, shoe shine gear, hair combs and – of course – sweets, before being wrapped up and delivered to vessels.
“They go to standby vessels, supply, cargo, research, oil support and diving vessels. We just put a parcel on for each crew member.”
Watch our video from the Christmas parcel wrapping at the Aberdeen Seafarers Centre below.
While the Aberdeen Seafarers Centre is just two years old, the Christmas parcel gifting has become an annual tradition at the harbour after being initiated by Howard more than a decade ago.
“I used to work for an organisational charity where I started in June 2001,” he explains.
“Before Christmas that year I realised I needed to do something for the seafarers – so that’s when I started giving out parcels. And it’s grown from 500 to 3000 during that time.”
“One year myself, my wife and a lady wrapped all the parcels – and, I can tell you, Christmas was not my fun time then!”
Although a regular wrapping crew is combined of around a dozen volunteers at any given time – including relatives and friends of the centre’s staff and members of the public reached by word of mouth – the charitable concept still proves to be a costly one.
“I get a lot of feedback from the vessels and the crews really appreciate what we do.
“But it probably costs around £6000 to do all these parcels.
“We get donations as a thank you as well – it’s not why we do it, but it’s a nice bonus nonetheless.”
And the 3000 parcels are still not enough to cater for everyone, Howard says.
“Team of volunteers and myself go round each day, visiting the vessels and bringing a bit of cheer and a bit of hilarity.
“Aberdeen is a busy port visited by about 8000 vessels a year and we get round as many as possible. We don’t get on every vessel but we try our best.”
As the volunteers work away, filling the woolly hats, wrapping them up or putting the parcels in boxes, an industry director fusses around with tea and biscuits, lending a helping-hand wherever needed.
Jeanette Forbes, director and founder of Aberdeen’s PCL Group – IT services provider to the offshore, marine and onshore energy sectors – has been the chair for the Seafarers Centre volunteers’ committee since it was established in 2011.
“I act as a kind of bridge, if you will, between two port chaplains and the committee at the Seafarers Centre,” Jeanette says.
“I also report to the trustees so it’s up to me to make sure the volunteers are here, and if they have any needs and requirements they come to me and we solve them accordingly.”
Supporting the work of the centre while single-handedly running a vibrant business can be challenging, but also highly rewarding, Jeanette believes.
“I try really hard to keep any charitable work away from my daily job,” she stresses.
“My priority is PCL Group, without any doubt; however I can offer these guys a different way of thinking because I have industry experience and I can give them the support they require.
“It’s the fact that you can tap into your networks to get something resolved.
“And often, when you ask somebody’s help, they are very good at providing it – particularly in the oil and gas sector.”
On Christmas Day Jeanette will join Howard with his group of volunteers at the Aberdeen Harbour to hand out the parcels they hope to finish tonight – before returning home to spend the rest of the day with her close ones.
“For me the most important part of this is to make a difference to someone on Christmas Day who’s not going to be with their family, see their children, spend that time around a Christmas dinner table, enjoy the conversation and have a nice meal.
“A little bit of cheer at this time of year goes a long way,” she adds, before revealing in a hushed voice the dilemma she faces prior to this year’s visit to the harbour.
“Two years ago I dressed as an elf and delivered the parcels with Howard who dressed as father Christmas so of course there’s great emotion at the moment about what I’m going to turn up as this year.
“It’s taken me two years to get rid of that stigma. But nonetheless, things that we must do… sometimes.”
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