Hundreds set to sleep at Salisbury Cathedral to support the homeless
It's Alabaré's 17th Big Sleep in the building's cold cloisters
Last updated 3rd Mar 2025
Over 200 people are set to sleep on the floors of Salisbury Cathedral's cloisters next month (Friday 28th March) to support homeless people in South Wiltshire.
They're all taking part in Alabaré's Big Sleep event, the 17th time it's being held at the Cathedral.
It was first held in 2007 and helps raise tens of thousands of pounds for the charity to help homeless people.
Rebecca Mullen is one of Alabaré's fundraising managers and says it's always a highly anticipated event.
"It's always a combination of excitement and a little bit anxiety," she said, adding: "As long as you've got really good bit of kit, a bit of a sense of humour and a bit of bravery, then we can make all this work."
Many of the 200-plus people taking part in the Big Sleep are young people, with Rebecca saying the event has become something of a rite of passage for teenagers in Year 10.
She praised them for taking part, with the organisation helping people as young as 16: "Their one night of compassion gives them a bit of a taste of what homelessness is like.
"It's always fun, but we also need to drive home the reality actually getting that cold, that uncomfortable, it's reality for way too many people."
Rebecca said that people trading their beds for the cold, hard floors of the Cathedral, helps them change lives forever.
A direct impact on lives
She told us that people must understand that homelessness isn't always a choice and can the result of events outside of a person's control.
"Things have happened in their lives where they haven't had the level of support is needed. So they've got to a place where it is all spiralled, potentially out of control, and they need the support that we offer," said Rebecca.
She old us that the first step the charity takes is to get homeless people into the safe and warm, as people living on the street are 17 times more likely to end up in hospital because they've been beaten up.
The charity will then work alongside partner organisations to support people with mental and physical health as well as education.
Rebecca said the Big Sleep is going to have a direct impact on people's lives.
She said: "The homeless often feel either invisible or judged and we need to change everybody's expectations and narrative around what it is to be homeless and how we are absolutely making that life saving change by taking part in something as simple as the sleep out."