On Thursday 10^th October in support of World Homeless Day 48 brave souls spent the night sleeping rough in the iconic ‘Shed’ at Kingsholm stadium.

The night was hosted by Gloucester Rugby Community Charity in partnership with Gloucester City Mission.

Participants spent the night outside with only a sleeping bag and some cardboard for protection from the elements. As the lights went out at 11pm everyone set down for the evening, varying levels of sleep were achieved, what was certain was that everyone felt uncomfortable, thoughtful and humbled by the experience.

Lisa Nicholls who took part in the evening said:

“For me personally it made me understand just how difficult it must be to be homeless. I have a new appreciation for how being roofless makes you feel, how it feels to be sleep deprived, be cold to your bones and then have to walk around in clothes that are damp and dirty following a night out. This was just after one night, imagine how it must feel for a week, month, year of sleeping out.”

We are thankful to everyone who supported the event which includes the company the much-needed cardboard that was kindly donated from many local businesses including - Leeways, B and Q, Waitrose, Big Dug, Companion Care Vets, GRH Pharmacy, Tewkesbury Printers and WMB Logistics - who also kindly took it all the next day to recycle.

Funds raised will be split between Gloucester Rugby Community Charity’s Homeless Rugby Programme and Gloucester City Mission’s Winter Shelter.

Last year’s winters shelter provided a total of 1509 beds to 105 people with an average of 13 people per night. During the 122 nights that they were open the longest that someone stayed was for 113 nights. 84% of beds were for men and 16% for women.

Dave Kinghorn, GCM Manager said:

“ 'Try the Night’ was a great way for the general public to get a glimpse of what life may be like in a rough sleeper's position, without having the uncertainty, unpredictability and potential dangers that rough sleepers can face.

“Gloucester Rugby Community Charity funds will be used to continue the support of the homeless rugby sessions on a weekly basis and to provide resource to allow them to compete in competitions.”

Helen Chu, Community and Charity Manager said she was overwhelmed by the amount of support both charities have received and the good spirit of all who took part, it was a very humbling experience, it is fantastic that we are able to continue with our Homeless Rugby Programme and support homeless people in Gloucester.

Both charities would like to thank all those who took part for raising money, awareness and marking World Homeless Day in such a positive way.

Sleep out raises an amazing £13.3k!

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