麻豆约拍

Every year since 2013, poet, broadcaster and author Lemn Sissay has arranged a Christmas dinner for people aged 18-25 who have left the care system and have no one with whom to have Christmas dinner.

No one to give presents or receive them. No-one on the other end of the cracker.

This is not a charity. It isn't even an organisation. It's a project Lemn undertook because he understands how it feels - at 18 he was released from a children's home and given an empty flat in Wigan, with no one in the world who had known him for longer than a year.

Four-part series which considers what these dinners have taught Lemn about charity, social enterprise, and people, through stand-up, interview and poetry.

In this episode, he explores the idea of shelter in all its forms - with the help of Polly Neate, the Chief Executive of the charity Shelter, and comedy writer Sarah Morgan.

Written and performed by Lemn Sissay.

Producer: Ed Morrish

A Somethin' Else production for 麻豆约拍 Radio 4, first broadcast in November 2019.