Christmas: just another working day

THE RESTAURATEUR

FORMER Claridge's chef Karl Mainey, who opened his new restaurant last month after a 200,000 four-month refurbishment, will have little rest on Christmas Day. The father of three will be in The Crown Inn at Roecliffe, near Boroughbridge, from about 8.30am, along with his staff of four chefs and a four-strong waiting team, getting everything ready for a six-course Christmas lunch, including fresh scallop risotto and organic golden turkey, for 80 people.

This means tearing himself away from his three sons Hamish, six, Jonty, four and 12- week-old baby Fergus, as well as wife Amanda, early on Christmas morning, even though he will only have returned home at about 2am after working Christmas Eve. He will share half a bottle of champagne with Amanda and spend an hour or two opening presents with the children from 6am. "When they say Daddy, it's Christmas morning, don't go', it does pull on the heartstrings, but unfortunately, you have to do it. It goes with the territory. We are used to it and I give the boys my undivided attention when I am at home. I just look forward to January when I will be able to take time off."

Karl, 39, originally from Preston, Lancashire, won't have anything apart from coffee to keep him going as he ensures everything runs smoothly, with just ten to 15 minutes allowed between the first and last person being served at each course. "The last thing you want to do is eat," he says. But the family will come to the restaurant for lunch. "I will be able to sneak five minutes with them here and there."

He will leave about 4.30pm, close the restaurant and return home for a supper of nibbles and cold meats. "I am looking forward to the evening, I will have a glass of wine and enjoy time with the children."

* The Crown Inn 01423-322300

THE FOOTBALLER

GEORGE Boateng, a midfielder with Middlesbrough FC, will be training on Christmas Day at the ground as normal and will then travel with his team by coach for an overnight stay in Birmingham, where he will be playing a match on Boxing Day.

George, 32, has two children, Eliana, five, and Elisha, three. "We have to work as normal. Most of us get up early to spend time with our families. If there is a day you would like to be home, it is Christmas Day.

The house is not going to be the same because you are going. I have been doing this for the last ten years now and my wife understands, but the little ones find it hard to accept."

George likes to open presents with his children and play games.

He and his wife Adriana will, as usual, have family - including his mother, brother and inlaws from Holland and Africa - staying with them at their home in Yarm. He pays for all their flights. "It is a lot of money but it is not like we are wasting it. They have normal jobs, we want to be together and that is worth more than any presents to us."

They will all have lunch together before George, who allows himself a maximum of two glasses of wine, sets off at about 2pm. His children often stand at the door when he leaves, crying: "Why are you going? You are always going to football, come back." He often phones them minutes later. "It breaks your heart, you can't stop thinking about them all the way to training in the car. Even though I have just left, I will be talking to them all the time. On Christmas Day what I will miss most is one word, family'. We hardly watch TV. There will be cards and Monopoly and arguing and fighting, people winning, people crying.

"If I wasn't playing, I would love to go to church. I believe in Christ. It is a time of love and hope, a good time to forgive those we have fallen out with and make up."

THE RACECOURSE MANAGER

JILL Williamson, 36, the general manager of Sedgefield Racecourse, will be leaving her three sons Darren, 15, Alex, 12 and Bradley, ten, with her husband Jeffrey in their bungalow on site from 8am, while she walks the one mile and two furlong course to check the state of the ground with head groundsman Mark Davison, in preparation for their biggest race day of the year on Boxing Day, which attracts a crowd of up to 4,000. They will be taking readings from a computerised "going stick"

and sharing a bottle of champagne as they go. "We will be trying to enjoy our Christmas Day," she says.

The information has to be sent out to national and local Press and radio and TV stations and there will be a constant stream of inquiries from owners and trainers. Many will be sending horses, particularly from Ireland, which need to be put up in stables, and stable hands, who will stay in the 15-bed racecourse hostel.

Jill, who will have been up from about 5.30am opening presents with her sons, will return home for lunch - turkey, lamb and beef cooked by Jeffrey's father - but will pop back to the office in the afternoon to check the phones. "It is an historic race day. I love it, the excitement and the thrill of it. I wouldn't want to be working anywhere else on Christmas Day," she says.

THE PRISON OFFICER

TONY Brewis, 31, has volunteered to work every Christmas since he was 18 as his birthday is near New Year and he would rather have time off then. As principal prison officer, he will be responsible for the management of Durham Prison and the safety, security and care of about 950 prisoners who will spend most of the day locked in their cells.

He will leave the home he shares with his partner, Jason, at about 12.30pm and finish at about 9pm. "I will have a long lie-in, a late breakfast, open a few presents and then don't plan to do anything other than work," he says. As a vegetarian, he will be bringing a special nut roast meal to heat up for lunch. He will be working Boxing Day as well. "I really enjoy it," he says. "I would prefer colleagues who have children to have the day off."

There are no prison visits on Christmas Day and most prisoners will be allowed out of their cells for about four or five hours at staggered times. There won't be crackers or hats, but there will be a decorated tree and a multi-denominational service for those who wish to take part. "What we can do is facilitate telephone calls with prisoners' families."

There will be 72 other officers under him on duty.

"We have to understand the sensitivities of prisoners, it could be their first Christmas away from their families. It can be emotional. We have a lot of training and professionals such as the chaplaincy team, experienced with people who have difficulty coping this time of year."

Officers may take part in games with prisoners.

"We try to keep it as light-hearted as possible. At the end of the day we have to ensure the prison stays safe and runs as smoothly as it usually does."

THE ENTERTAINER

PAUL Leeder will be doing balloon modelling, magic and organising a children's disco at Judges Hotel, Kirklevington, near Yarm, on Christmas Day. This will be his fifth year. "They keep asking me back. No one else wants to work on Christmas Day but I am single now and I don't mind," says the 49-year-old actor and performer, who broke up with his partner three years ago and doesn't have children. He will start setting up his act from about 10.30am. I am in the business of creating magic and imaginative entertainment. I like the children to have a good time."

He now lives with his parents in Thornaby, near Stockton, and will get home at about 6pm having just had a sandwich to eat all day. "That is when I put my feet up and my Christmas starts. I will enjoy some cold leftovers." His sister from Brighton will be there with his three nieces. Having worked ten out of 11 days in the run-up to Christmas he will be shattered. "I am absolutely exhausted at the end of it," he says.

* Paul Leeder can be contacted through ARC entertainments, Stockton. Tel: 01740-631292.

THE DOCTOR

HEART specialist Dr Zulfiquar Adam, 30, will be working from 9am on Christmas Day through to 9am on Boxing Day at James Cook Hospital, South Tees. Dr Adam, a specialist registrar in cardiology, will be responsible for the care of patients in the 14-bed coronary care unit, as well as on three further 20-bed cardiology wards.

His wife, Asma, and 18- month-old daughter, Zahraa, will spend the day with his in-laws, where they will have a turkey dinner. Dr Adam will probably have a Christmas dinner in the hospital.

In any 24-hour period, the hospital expects to treat one or two heart attack cases and Dr Adam, working with a junior doctor and with a consultant on call, assesses those coming into accident and emergency with heart problems. He will alert James Cook's cardiac emergency team should a patient need immediate specialist angioplasty treatment to unblock and open arteries. "My wife understands, it is a busy job and busy lifestyle," he says.

"She looks forward to the time we can spend together."

As Muslims, the family exchange presents at the Muslim festival of Eid earlier in the month and don't celebrate Christmas itself. "But it is a holiday season," he says. He was brought up in Zimbabwe and South Africa and studied for A-levels at school in Blackburn. "I have been brought up in countries and educated at schools where it is celebrated and we treat it as a family holiday," he says.

"Working on Christmas Day is difficult because everybody is at home. It is a time to get together with extended family."

THE COASTGUARD WATCH OFFICER

BEV Allen, 36, will be on duty with five others on her watch at the Maritime Rescue Coastguard Centre in Bridlington, monitoring 999 calls along the whole of the North-East coast from 8am to 8pm on Christmas Day. It is not always a quiet shift.

"There will be merchant vessels, people trying out new toys and going for walks along the cliffs after dinner, a lot of people have Christmas Day dips in the sea, also there are potential suicides," says Bev, who lives on her own and doesn't have children. Her job is to organise the reaction to an incident from start to finish, which may involve co-ordinating the coastguard, ambulance and police teams, organising helicopters and setting up landing sites at hospitals. Her team dealt with the tragedy in Whitby last month when three people died after a boat capsized near the harbour.

The most difficult aspect of the job is not being able to see what is happening. "We are in the dark, waiting for people to give us updates. At the same time we have to calm down people who are in distress."

The team will have a ready-prepared Christmas dinner and eat it when they can, at different sittings. Bev, who has been doing the job for 11 years, expects to get home at about 8.30pm, when she will be "absolutely shattered". She shares a pretend' Christmas Day on Boxing Day with her parents, who live nearby, and brother and granddad, when they open presents and have dinner together. "You get used to it," says Bev.

PS

SANTA CLAUS

EVEN Santa Claus doesn't get a rest on Christmas Day. As if he hasn't done enough work by now, he will be at the Blackwell Grange Hotel in Darlington entertaining children from 1.30PM until 4pm, performing magic, telling stories and giving out presents before heading back home to the North Pole.