Church sleepout hopes to shine light on supporting Cambridge's homeless
Volunteers will tonight be sleeping rough to help those in need
Organisers of a sleepout in Cambridge tonight are hoping their efforts will encourage others to help the homeless.
The Big Sleepout event at the city's St Giles' Church will aim to raise funds for supporting refugees and people facing homelessness or displacement due to conflict.
It's a fundraiser organised by the Cambridge Convoy Refugee Action Group (CamCRAG) alongside Emmaus Cambridge, which encourages volunteers and members of the public to take part.
CamCRAG have been organising a sleepout each year since 2018.
Catharine Walston's from CamCRAG:
"We have somebody awake all night to keep an eye on everybody and make sure there's nobody coming onto the church premises who shouldn't be there, and in the morning before the normal Sunday service, everybody has breakfast together and that's it," she said.
"The types of people taking part could be anybody providing you're an adult.
"We've got 18-year-old students, we've got one volunteer who is in her eighties who's a former Greenham Common camper."
What else is taking place on the day?
A winter fair is taking place in the afternoon at St Giles' Church, which will boast the likes of music, children's activities, arts and crafts stalls, food and drink and vintage clothes.
This is then followed by the sleepout, where those taking part will gather at the church for around 6pm.
"There's a Dickensian fear of facing things that need to change"
"There's a Dickensian fear of facing things that need to change; we would like people to be aware that yes you are a person, you may be sleeping in a doorway or a tent, but you're a person and still deserve compassion and kindness," Catharine said.
Donna Talbot's the chief executive at Emmaus Cambridge, which is the partner charity for this year's sleepout:
"We recognise many people are displaced by conflict, we recognise people become homeless as a response to that, so we welcome the opportunity to raise awareness of the differences but the similarities and the work we're both (Emmaus and CamCRAG) are both doing."