7th March 2010

Alabaré sleepers brave the cold in Weymouth

A team of brave volunteers have shown their support for Alabaré by camping out in Weymouth.

On Friday (4th March) 20 hardy individuals dug out their sleeping bags and spent the night on the parade ground of Nothe Fort, the town’s famous military fort. The event was organised to help raise awareness of the many issues surrounding homelessness, as well as raising vital funds for Alabaré projects in Dorset.

It is the first year that Alabaré has held a sleep out at Nothe Fort and the charity was delighted to be holding an event in such an impressive venue. Some of the sleepers included Alabaré’s Chief Executive Andrew Lord, along with some of the team and residents from Alabaré’s Weymouth Homes for Veterans.

The sleep out was a chance to give a very brief insight into the challenges faced by many rough sleepers at the same time as raising awareness of the work that Alabaré does and raising funds for local projects.

Alabaré Senior Support Worker, Emma Williams-Mandiville was taking part for the first time. She said,

“It was so cold, we had ice on our sleeping bags. It was a great location to sleep out in. I think everyone found it very thought provoking. At least we had warm homes to go home to the next morning – not everyone is so lucky.

It was great to be joined by some of our residents from our Weymouth Home for Veterans, who were all very willing to get involved, and help raise the profile of Alabaré’s work in the town.”

Events in Weymouth got off to a rousing start, with a concert earlier in the evening from Dogs Without Collars, and band made up from Dorset vicars, at St Adhelm’s Church. Around 50 people attended the event raising around £250 for Alabaré – a great start to the night’s fundraising.

The sleep out at Nothe Fort was one of a series of events, a number of other sleep out/ins were also held across Wiltshire and in Hampshire and Bristol:

Salisbury Cathedral – Salisbury, Wiltshire. The largest event held which saw over 90 people take to the cold hard floor of the cathedral cloisters for the night.

St Thomas Church – Salisbury, Wiltshire. This was a smaller scale event which saw a dedicated few curl up in the porch for the night.

Porton Church – Porton, Wiltshire. This event was organised by young people from the Bourne Valley Churches and was hailed a huge success by all.

All Saints Church – Westbury, Wiltshire. A group of supervised young people camped out in the porch.

St Peters Church – Codford, Wiltshire. 16 people including 4 children slept in the church.

King Arthur’s Hall – Andover, Hampshire. The third sleep out held here.

Pip n Jay’s Church – Bristol. In association with BCAN Homelessness Forum.

The money raised at these events will go towards the work of Alabaré projects local to them.