Winchester’s annual Big Sleep Out is set to raise over £33,000 to put back into services to support homeless and other vulnerable people.

For the first time hosted at Wolvesey, in the Bishop of Winchester’s Grounds, Trinity Winchester’s Big Sleep Out on 11th May saw over 200 people come together to sleep in cardboard shelters for the night, and raise sponsorship for doing so.

Trinity’s Chief Executive, Sue McKenna, took part in the sleep out and said “We were worried when it started to rain in the evening, but that was all part of the challenge. I was lucky to have a shelter that had been built by local schoolchildren to keep me warm and dry overnight, with lovely messages inside from the young people. Thank you so much to the Bishop and the team at the Diocese for making us feel so welcome and allowing us to host this vital event in his grounds.”

Through corporate sponsorship from Rathbones, participants raising money, and wonderful cake sales and donations throughout the evening, the amount raised is currently just over £33,000, with more money expected over the coming weeks.

Andrew Robinson, Chief Executive of the Diocese of Winchester, said “Trinity Winchester does a fantastic job helping the homeless and raising awareness about those members of our society, so often neglected and overlooked, who don’t have somewhere safe to call home. As a diocese we welcomed the opportunity to support the Big Sleep Out and to play a role in this important project. Taking part in the Big Sleep Out myself was an important experience, but does not come close to the realities of actually sleeping on the streets as I was able to head home to wash, eat and catch up on sleep. This just isn’t an option for the many people who do sleep rough on our streets every night.”

The event can still be supported at https://trinitywinchester.org.uk/donate-here. Every penny will be put back into Trinity’s work providing long term, life-changing support for over 600 people every year.

 

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