Bolton Wanderers in the Community, in partnership with Bolton Wanderers are once again hosting the BWFC Sleepout fundraising event at the Toughsheet Community Stadium.

Open to those aged 18 and over, the event will take place on Friday 22nd March and will challenge Wanderers fans and the local community alike to spend the night sleeping out pitchside at the Toughsheet Community Stadium.

The aim of the event is to both raise funds and raise awareness for Bolton Wanderers in the Community, Urban Outreach and, for the first time, Emmaus Bolton and Backup North West.

The inaugural 2023 Sleepout raised over £27,000 and the funds were split between Bolton Wanderers in the Community and Urban Outreach.

With the money raised, Bolton Wanderers in the Community were able to expand and enhance their ‘warm spaces’ offer, which provide a safe and welcoming environment for members of the community who may need some respite from the strain of energy bills. The warm spaces also include free refreshments and food alongside further support in areas such as housing, debt advice and health and wellbeing.

The money raised also enabled Urban Outreach to completely refurbish their training kitchen in the new Amber Centre, and add to the grounds they use to grow food to cook in the kitchen.

The Centre provides a range of therapeutic indoor and outdoor activities to help support the broader needs and interests of those who are impacted by homelessness and are otherwise disadvantaged and highly vulnerable.

Phil Mason, CEO of Bolton Wanderers in the Community said: “We are proud to once again be hosting this event with the aim to raise both awareness and funds for the local Bolton charities that do so much good work in our community to support the most vulnerable.

“We had a successful Sleepout last year in testing conditions, raising an incredible £27,000 – and I’m sure that this year we can push that even further.

“I encourage as many supporters as possible to take on this unique challenge to do something special for our community here in Bolton.”

Bolton Wanderers’ CEO, Neil Hart said: “As a club, we are proud to support our official charity, Bolton Wanderers in the Community, as well as the vital work of the other remarkable local charities that will be involved.

“We had a fantastic response to our inaugural Sleepout and we were delighted to raise a significant amount through the event to tangibly benefit people in the community.

“I’ll be taking part again this year and I hope we can encourage as many people as possible to join us to help surpass last year’s total.”

Bolton Wanderers in the Community deliver projects and initiatives to support children, families and older adults who may be experiencing hardship and multiple disadvantages, exacerbated by the current economic climate.

Urban Outreach deliver services to move homeless people and those who are difficult to house into suitable and sustainable accommodation – so no one has to resort to living on the streets of Bolton at any time.

Backup North West provide high quality, holistic housing and support services across Bolton to young people aged 16-25 years who are homeless, or at risk of homelessness.

Emmaus Bolton provides a home and meaningful work to up to 22 people with experience of homelessness. Their social enterprises generate the revenue which keeps the community self-sustainable.

The BWFC Tough Sleep challenge is an overnight event that will take place on the Friday 22nd March from 8pm – 8am.

Hilary, Joanne and Alan