On the weekend of 25th November 2023, our Community Support Worker Neil and his partner Abbie took part in a SleepOut event organised by Robes to raise awareness for people struggling with homelessness in the Lambeth and Southwark areas.
We wrote an article prior to the SleepOut announcing Neil’s involvement which you can here. This article is an update.
Recapping his experience Neil said:
“Abbie and I turned up to Southwark Cathedral at about 19.30pm where we were greeted by the Robes team. We then went outside and found somewhere to bed down for the night, there was already lots of people that had set up by this point. After this we went back into the Cathedral for the evening entertainment “.
“The entertainment for the evening started off with the South London Jazz Orchestra and they were very good. Following the Orchestra there was a panel quiz show, which was a spin on the TV program “Would I Lie to You” with Larry Lamb and Tomi Ogunjobi on the celebrity panel. The night ended with a service from Revd Canon Michael Rawson, and we made our way outside, where we chatted with some people who were sleeping near us, before we got in our sleeping bags for the night. We did manage to get some intermittent sleep during the night and at 6.30am a bell was rung to end the sleepout and to wake anybody up that was still lucky enough to still be asleep, I was not that lucky, but Abbie was! After packing up our sleeping bags we then went back into the Cathedral for a cooked breakfast that the Robes team had put on for us and then made our way home”.
“The Robes team did a great job putting the event on, which is all to raise money for the winter shelter, a greatly needed resource for people rough sleeping in the cold weather. We would like to say a big thank you to everyone that has donated, and we are currently at £600, which is excellent!”.
The SleepOut was a great success, and it is reassuring to hear so many people attended and considered the struggles of people who are rough sleeping. The winter season is especially hard for people who are rough sleeping because they must endure extreme weather conditions such as freezing temperatures, snow and rain.
We would like to say a huge well done to Neil and Abbie for taking part in this brilliant event and successfully passing their original donation goal of £500! Their JustGiving page is still active, and you can donate if you haven’t already. Please click here for the JustGiving page.
We would like to remind everyone the importance of Solidarity. Solidarity is key part of the Emmaus ethos. We believe it is important to whatever you can, no matter how big or small, to help those who are in need.