On the night of Saturday 16th April, about 100 Bournemouth University students braved the cold temperatures of 2 degrees to sleep rough in St Michael’s School playground in Bournemouth, to raise money for YMCA’s Sleep Easy fundraising event.
YMCA have been holding these events since 2010 and have raised almost £1 million nationwide. The money raised goes towards helping the vulnerable homeless people in our communities. It’s a one night event where people choose to come together to sleep rough in order to raise money and awareness.
On Saturday night, the students started arriving at the school at 8pm and began building their shelters for the night out of cardboard boxes, which were to keep them warm until 8am the next day. And temperatures plummeted to about 2 degrees that night!
Our very own Justin was invited to judge and choose the winner for the most marvelous structures based on design, warmth and security. They also had a quiz to keep the students entertained and the winners of quiz and the shelter competition named ‘Team Solution’ won a trip on the Bournemouth balloon.
Food was warmly welcomed in the evening and delivered by Dominoes Pizza, who donated 50 large pizzas. And it was bacon butties for breakfast, which were supplied by Tesco and cooked by The Salvation Army in a breakfast van.
So far the students have raised over £4,500 and we at Scape have matched and donated £1,000. So it’s currently sitting at £5,500 so far! That is enough to provide 110 homeless people with a week’s YMCA accommodation and a 2-hour one-to-one consultation!
This is really great but the truth is, it is much harder to raise money and awareness for the homeless, than it is for other charities. There is a stigma attached to homeless people. We feel disconnected, separated from them and sometimes scared of their behavior. But the reality is we could all lose our way and be without a home. These people really need the support!
We may not be trained or equipped to help them but we can provide money to those wonderful people who can. The world and humanity needs us to be more compassionate!
So to give you an idea of what donations can do for someone in need…
- £5 can provide a counselling session to someone who needs talk to someone they can trust.
- £22 can provide a 1 hour intensive 1:1 support session with a trained support worker.
- £50 can provide accommodation and 2 hours support for a week for a person living in YMCA accommodation.
If you would like to know more about this national YMCA initiative and how you could get involved next year, please contact Sheena on [email protected]
This brilliant advert was designed by shop fairy Laura Fenouillet and Marion Vincent. It really highlights the difference between one who SURVIVES and one who THRIVES. Expertly modeled by Justin and shop fairy Marion!!
Happy Giving! Love Scape xxx