Sleeping Out In Wimbledon To Raise Funds

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Fifth 'Sleep Easy' event is coming soon

A village made of cardboard shelters will soon be emerging outside Holy Trinity Church in Wimbledon town centre, when participants in Sleep Easy 2014 set up their homes for the night.

This will be the fifth year that YMCA London South West, in partnership with Kingston Churches Action on Homelessness (KCAH), Everyday Church and Faith in Action, invite people to 'sleep rough so others don’t have to'.

In 2014, organisers hope to have the biggest gathering of 'rough sleepers' in the history of the Sleep Easy event, with up to 250 people turning up to show they care for vulnerable people in their community.

There will also be a Sleep Easy on the Memorial Gardens in Kingston.

During the last four years, Sleep Easy has raised almost £65,000 and as many as 500 people have attended the events.

Starting at 7pm on January 25, and finishing with breakfast at 6am the next morning, the event is only £10 for adults and £5 for under 18's. For this sum participants get their own Sleep Easy beanie hat, hot drinks, soup and breakfast. There will be a wide variety of activities to take place during the night, including entertainment, games and a shelter building competition.

Sarah Ward, fundraising Officer at YMCA London South West, said: "Sleep Easy is a really enjoyable and challenging event, but has a huge impact on people who are not as fortunate as those taking part."

December 28, 2013