Motivated by our boys’ school, the Knightsbridge School, in December 2021 I participated for the first time in the annual London Sleepout, run by Restart Lives, the charity.

At the time didn’t know much about homelessness or sleeping rough at the time, yet was curious to find out more and it did sound like a good cause. We spent the night outside St Columba’s Church in Knightsbridge together with the charity’s staff, supporters and other fellow parents from our school. We slept in our sleeping bags, with the comfort of barriers and security, surrounded by many people and with access to toilets and other amenities. We woke up to hot coffee and bacon rolls.

Still, we all felt like we had somewhat come close to the experience of sleeping rough … and then the Restart Lives folks hit us with a hard dose of reality…. waking up is the toughest challenge. As we were taking off to the warmth of our homes and our loved ones, the hardest part for a homeless person was about to begin. Go through the entire day, seek their resting place for the next night (usually a colder night), perhaps pursue the unlikely hope of a place in a hostel or a shelter, evaluate the adversities encountered during the night and figure out how to deal with them. Not to mention all sorts of personal circumstances….

Restart Lives says that more than 310,000 people in this country spent the last festive period without a home. Nearly half of those were children…

No doubt the ongoing housing crisis will get worse before it gets better. The genesis of homelessness is not exclusive to lack of economic means, it is a social issue that touches on personal and social circumstances and brings about long-lasting consequences to individuals and our society.

On the night of December 6, am going to again join the Sleepout with Restart Lives outside St Columba’s Church. Please consider supporting me and donate on my JustGiving page. Have set a modest monetary target, a sum that would go a long way towards supporting this charity’s annual activities.

Have also dedicated this fundraising towards the memory of my father who passed away earlier this year.

And by all means, please ping me if you want to join on the night - it is a memorable experience.

The funds raised go towards supporting the work of the charity - you can find more about their good work on https://www.restartlives.org.

Thank you for taking the time to read through this and for your generosity to those of you who choose to support this cause.