£25,000 raised in one night for charities 
The sponsored sleep out was organised by Kent based housing
association mhs homes in the grounds of their Head Office at
Broadside, Chatham Maritime. The event was planned to coincide with
National Homelessness Day on Sunday 27 January. The aim was to
raise awareness of the plight of people without a home and also to
raise money for homeless organisation ‘Emmaus’ and ‘Macmillan – A
Cancer Care Unit at Medway Maritime Hospital’ – the charity voted
by staff of mhs homes as their chosen charity for 2008.
mhs homes, Chief Executive John
Sands, "This is the seventh sleep out we have held. We have been
running them biennially for fifteen years. In 2005 we raised
£14,000 and so this year we set ourselves a target of £15,000. This
year the night has really inspired a variety of people of all ages
and the whole of the community has joined in or supported our
sleepers. With the overwhelming support received we are delighted
that our fundraising has exceeded £25,000."
Sleepers remained outside sleeping in cardboard boxes from
9.00pm to 6.00am. Brave participants included staff from mhs homes,
other Housing Associations, local consultants, contractors,
councillors, Police, suppliers, Neil Davies, the Chief Executive of
Medway Council and Paul Clark MP for Gillingham, who all gave up
their warm beds to help raise money for the two charities.
The night was launched at 9pm by
former church envoy Sir Terry Waite. Mr Waite is patron of homeless
organisation ‘Emmaus’ which gives people a roof over their heads
and a means of earning a living. Mr Waite saluted and congratulated
sleepers stating that the event was very poignant to him.
He said his experiences as a hostage
made him realise how hard it is to sleep rough. He said, " I spent
five years in Beirut sleeping on the floor, not just for one night.
So, I know just what it is like to be very cold and alone." He
added, "I also had a very good friend who died from cancer and I am
glad that money is being made for such a good cause." Mr Waite
added," The more we can get local communities coming together to
solve their own problems, the better. That is exactly what is
happening here in Medway. It has been a terrific effort."
During
the night there were prizes for the best boxes judged by the Deputy
Mayor Of Medway Councillor Nick Bowler. Cardboard boxes of all
shapes and sizes filled the whole car park. Entries were colourful,
imaginative, exciting and some were useful in the long term. There
was a wigwam, an African house, a fairy castle, racing car, company
vans. There were two exact replicas of Broadside and Macklin
fencing’s farmhouse in Walderslade and there were castles and
churches. The recycling team at Medway Council had made a perfect
copy of one of their vehicles which even had bags on the back for
collecting various materials that could be recycled.
Councillor Bowler presented prizes
for:
- The Most Unusual went to Kent Reliance Building Society
(Monopoly Board Game)
- The Best Individual was won by Emma Byron (A Wigwam of
Quotes)
- The Best Team – Kent Police (The Vatican with Pope, Vicars,
Monks and Nuns)
- The Most Imaginative and Daring – Tony Cashman (A glitzy fairy
castle with it’s own fairy)
- The Best Company – The Kier Group (A group of village
cottages)
- Special Merit for outstanding designs went to Andrew Scholey
Help I am Moving (A Racing Car with Racer) and Medway Councils
Recycling Team (A blue recycling vehicle complete with flashing
blue light and with bags on the back for tin cans and paper)
- The Most Hospitable Box went to Swale Heating.
Councillor Bowler who stepped in at the last minute to
judge the competition with the Mayors escort Councillor Tony
Goulden because the Mayor was ill said, "Judging this competition
was one of the hardest things I have been asked to do because
everyone was so enthusiastic and worked so hard on their boxes . It
was a real tough job trying to select the winners and I even asked
for a few more prizes to give away because the standards were so
high. I think everyone deserved an award. I think this event was a
brilliant way of getting everyone together and do something
worthwhile for charity. Although it was a fun night mhs homes and
the 170 volunteer sleepers wanted to highlight a very serious
message in our society and have raised a fantastic amount of money
for good causes too."
If you would like to make a donation
or contribution to this event you can do this online by visiting
www.justgiving.com/mhshomes
More
pictures of the sleepout here!