A leading north-east homeless charity is inviting teams to spend a night sleeping rough as part of a unique fundraising challenge.
Aberdeen Cyrenian’s popular sleepout event is set to return later this year and will take place on Monday, October 26, on the second floor of Union Square’s car park.
The event is encouraging teams of two to four people to grab a sleeping bag and spend the night sleeping rough to raise awareness of the reality and discomfort faced by a homeless person on a daily basis.
There will also be a fundraising element to the event, with each team tasked with raising a minimum sponsorship of £50 per person. This element has taken on added importance this year after the recent partial closure of the charity’s drop-in service at its Summer Street premises due to funding cutbacks.
The service, which has now been restored to its five days per week provision thanks to a number of generous donations, helps more than 200 vulnerable people every week and the charity is looking to cement the future of the service by urging potential teams for the sleepout to come together to raise much-needed funds.
Rachel Sanders, fundraising officer of Aberdeen Cyrenians, said: “On the back of last year’s sleepout success as part of the RGU Events Management course, we’ve decided to bring the event back again this year and are opening it up to the public to try and get as many people as possible involved.
“This year, the event will take place in Union Square’s car park and we’re looking for teams of two to four people to take part. Obviously, with the recent cutbacks to our drop-in service, the fundraising element of the sleepout has taken on even more importance than in previous years so we’re really looking for support from across the city.
“The sleepout is both thought-provoking and heart-warming in that people can really begin to empathise with just what a homeless person goes through on a day-to-day basis. We’re really encouraging individuals, groups of friends, workplaces and other organisations who are interested in supporting Aberdeen Cyrenians to get a team together and join us for what is an incredibly important event for us.”
Ryan Manson, General Manager of Union Square commented: “We have always admired the work carried out by Aberdeen Cyrenians so are delighted to be able to support the 2015 sleepout by hosting the event on Level 2 of our car park. Homelessness is a very real issue, not just across the UK but right here in Aberdeen, so we hope lots of people come out to support this fantastic event.”
For more information on the sleepout event, please contact a member of Aberdeen Cyrenian’s fundraising team on 01224 625732 or email fundraising@aberdeen-cyrenians.org. More information can also be found online at www.aberdeen-cyrenians.org