Pathfinder partner Stonepillow, the Chichester-based homelessness charity, hosted its annual BIG Sleep Out recently, raising important awareness around the issue of homelessness in its local community and nationally.
The event, which saw 62 people sleep out in cardboard shelters on the green in front of Chichester Cathedral, gives participants a small insight into the realities of rough sleeping. While not designed to replicate the experience of homelessness, the BIG Sleep Out aims to give people a flavour of what it is like to sleep out and open up conversations about homelessness within the local community.
This year, the event took place on Saturday 21 September overnight and was attended by Liberal Democrat Chichester MP Jess Brown-Fuller, who also slept out overnight in a cardboard shelter.
So far the event has raised £18,800 and Stonepillow is hoping to increase that to £20,000, which will go towards the running of its day hubs in Bognor Regis and Chichester.
It was £10 per person to attend the BIG Sleep Out and cardboard was donated by local businesses for people to construct their shelters; the majority of the cardboard was donated by 99 Bikes, a Chichester-based bike shop, which also came along on the day to top up the supply.
People of all ages slept out overnight, including families and children’s groups. There was a full entertainment schedule from 12.30pm when sleepers started arriving, including live music, dance groups, theatre and an evening service in the cathedral.
“It was a relaxed atmosphere with people sitting on the cathedral green, watching the performances and coming to talk to us on our stand,” says Alfie Montague, marketing and communications officer at Stonepillow. “The event is right in the centre of Chichester, so passers-by come over and ask about the event, which opens up conversations about our work and the issue of homelessness locally. We had some really great conversations.”
The evening church service featured a performance from a Ukrainian choir, a poetry reading and speeches from Stonepillow staff. There was also an opportunity to view an exhibition in the cathedral from local photographer, Andrew Cameron, who has captured the stories of Stonepillow clients in a series of black-and-white photographs.
Food and refreshments were available throughout the day – with Rapid Relief charity in Bognor giving our burgers and drinks and LA Fish in Chichester donating 100 portions of chips!
Stonepillow is delighted with the success of this year’s BIG Sleep Out and says that everyone who takes part generally says that they will do it again.
“Events like the BIG Sleep Out raise awareness about homelessness as a whole and the struggles that people go through daily across the whole country,” says Alfie. “It’s about much more than the person you see sleeping in a shop front; rough sleeping is also about the hidden homeless who routinely sleep in the back of a car or sofa-surf because they don’t have secure housing. So the BIG Sleep Out is a great opportunity to educate people about the wider issues too.
“The conversations we had were very positive with people genuinely interested in learning about something in their community that they hadn’t realised was such a big issue.”
If you would like to donate to the Big Sleep Out and help Stonepillow hit their £20,000 target, please visit https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/stonepillowbso2024
