Second year girls spend night sleeping on the street for charity

Two weeks ago four Bristol second years spent the night sleeping on the streets as part of a charity event raising money for homeless youth in Bristol.

The whole event had 140 participants and raised £25,000 for the charity 1625 Independent People.

Childhood studies student Allys Brown said the terrible weather conditions made it tough. She said: “It was freezing but it was completely worth it for how much money we raised.”

Ella Cook, also a childhood studies student, told the Tab: “It puts into perspective how lucky we are, as we got to go home to our warm beds unlike the thousands of homeless people that face the cold every night”.

Hannah snuggled up for the night

The girls had trouble sleeping with a combination of loud traffic, bright street lights and rain to contend with.  Participants are encouraged to bring sleeping bags and blankets to keep them warm through the night.  According to Ella they relied on “lots and lots of layers, blankets and zebra onesies to keep us warm”, with a hat, pieces of cardboard and outer wax sleeping bags provided by the charity.

When asked it they would take part in the charity event again the girls were united saying they’d “100 per cent do it again”, as the atmosphere and fantastic cause of the event is worth the cold.

Hannah said: “It was upsetting in the morning, waking up to reality.”

It seems experiencing sleeping on the street really struck a chord with the participants.

Ella, Corrine and Allys

1625 Independent People is a Bristol-based charity which supports over a thousand local young people, those who are on the streets and those getting back on their feet.  To take part each participant must raise £60, money that will help one young homeless person for a week.

Congratulations to all the participants for their incredible total raised.