On Wednesday the 7 November, 24 students attended the Sleep Out at the Rec event organised by Bath Rugby Foundation to raise awareness of the issue of homelessness in Bath.
On Wednesday the 7 November, 24 students attended the Sleep Out at the Rec event organised by Bath Rugby Foundation to raise awareness of the issue of homelessness in Bath.
Despite the city’s outward affluence, almost 20% of children in Bath live in poverty, and the charity Julian House works with 35 people on average each week. The issue with homelessness is sadly on a national scale and statistically, every hour, one teenager becomes homeless in the UK.
Money raised from the Sleep Out at the Rec will go towards both the Bath Rugby Foundation and Julian House; charities within Bath that help the homeless and vulnerable people. Bath students were well aware of the great work that the charities conduct and were particularly moved by a success story from a gentleman who with help from the charities turned his life around from being addicted to drugs and alcohol.
Over the past 4 weeks, teams from; Squash, Volleyball and Kickboxing, Sports Exec and other students have been fundraising for charity. All teams came together along with other members of the community in Bath to spend the night sleeping in the stands of the Rec.
It was a cold night with a high wind and the occasional heavy rain shower, but our students were under the cover of the stands, something that people who do not have a home aren’t always fortunate enough to have.
The majority of people did not sleep well and it provided a real insight into how bad it must be for those who do this every night.
Amazingly, our students were able to fundraise over £2700 for the charities so far, and you can still continue to donate by visiting https://mydonate.bt.com/events/sleepout18/476565
