On Friday 12th April, five staff members from Caritas Anchor House will experience a night of rough sleeping to raise awareness and funds for those experiencing homelessness.

The Diocese of Brentwood’s Sleepout is taking place in the grounds of Walsingham House in Essex, where up to 1,000 participants will show solidarity with the thousands of people who sleep rough in England, by experiencing one night sleeping outside.

Newham, where Caritas Anchor House is based, is a national homelessness hotspot. One in 24 people here are homeless – the highest in the country. Furthermore, the recent street homeless count showed that Newham was in the top 10 local authorities with highest numbers of people spending their nights on the streets.

In response to the crisis, we opened a Rough Sleeper Assessment Hub in December 2018 to support people off the streets. By working with local like-minded projects, such as NEWway and the Single Homelessness Project, we are creating a network of support that has the greatest chance of helping those risking their lives on the streets, and making sure no one slips through the net.

We’re delighted to be joining some of these organisations and hundreds of dedicated community members, as we spend a night sleeping outside. We spoke to two of our staff members taking part to ask them why they are choosing to spend a night under the stars:

Jazmine, our Communications and Supporter Manager, said, “This is a fantastic community-led response to the increasing homelessness crisis. An event like this does not replicate homelessness, but we are proud to see our community come together to gain an insight into the challenges faced by those sleeping rough.”

James, our Deputy Team Manager of our frontline Keyworker team says, “In my role I work with people who have experienced homelessness, but the sleepout will be an eye-opening experience. It’s a great opportunity to take on this challenge with our community, to support those without a place to call home.”

Please click here to sponsor our team, entering ‘Caritas Anchor House Team’ as the reference.

All funds raised will be split between the Brentwood Catholic Youth Service, who have organised the sleepout, and homeless charities in the community including Caritas Anchor House.