Severndroog Explorer Scout Unit (a group of 14-18 year olds) has decided to help a local charity, Greenwich Winter Shelter, by having a sponsored sleepout to support local homeless people.

On Saturday 18th January, we will all come together with our cardboard boxes for our sleepout outside Severndroog Castle. This will allow us to see first-hand what homeless people have to go through every night.

In the past we have done similar sleepouts, the most recent being in 2022. Below you can see a few pictures of how we found it. We managed to raise over £3000, which was an amazing amount - hopefully we can beat it this time!

The local charity we are fundraising for, Greenwich Winter Night Shelter, offers shelter, support and advocacy for people at risk of or experiencing homelessness in a welcoming, inclusive and safe space, so that they can ultimately be empowered to break out of the cycle of homelessness. A few weeks before the event one of their members gave the Unit a talk about the charity, which you can see below.

The charity has a year-round drop-in service for anyone who is homeless or at risk of homelessness, where you can simply walk in to get advice, no matter the severity of your situation. However, the Winter Night Shelter expands on this with more permanent help in addition to their soft services. The Night Shelter is open between October and March, providing 13 rooms of emergency accommodation for homeless people who need it and have been referred in due to their living conditions. Its benefits also extend beyond just a place to sleep - people staying there also receive two meals (breakfast and dinner) and 1:1 support to enable them to eventually move out into a permanent residence after their stay at the Night Shelter. Below are some pictures of the Shelter - as you can see, it is well-decorated and furnished, allowing the people staying there to feel comfortable and at home.

We hope to raise as much as we possibly can, in order to help the Winter Night Shelter continue this fantastic work throughout the winter this year, and ultimately sustain it and the people it helps for many years to come. £50 would help provide one night’s dinner for all 13 occupants of the Winter Shelter, and £250 would enable one of them to permanently move out through funding essentials such as a kettle, toaster or basic furniture for their home, giving them a better start and ensuring that they can have a lasting benefit from the charity’s help.