A number of enthusiastic Wolverhampton students braved the cold weather and took part in the ‘Sleep Easy’ campaign on Friday 6 March 2015, to raise money in changing the lives of young homeless people in the Black Country.
Sleep Easy is a national event which sees hundreds of people from up and down the country giving up their TOG rated duvets to help change the lives of homeless young people in their communities. Sixth Form students at St Edmund’s Catholic Academy in Wolverhampton prepared themselves to spend their Friday night sleeping in a cardboard box.
Every night, YMCA Black Country Group provides support and shelter for over 300 homeless young people across the Black Country and Staffordshire border area in addition to family mediation, substance misuse support and other services in order to prevent homelessness occurring in the first place.
St Edmund’s Catholic Academy are hoping to raise around £500 for the Moving Forward Fund which enables these young people to move on in their lives, by providing not only the practical things that make a house a home but also accessing employment and training opportunities, as well as providing them with much needed emotional support.
This is the first time a school in Wolverhampton has participated in this campaign as Daniel Collett, Head Boy at St Edmund’s, commented: “It’s definitely an experience that we won’t forget, and Friday night really gave us an insight into the reality of the many people who sleep rough on a daily basis. It was all for a great cause and I’m so glad we got to do it.”
The campaign took place at St Edmund’s Catholic Academy, on Friday 6th March from 6pm – 6am, with a soup kitchen provided by Modern Foreign Languages teacher, Mrs Michaela Knibbs, and an inspirational speech from the YMCA together with ‘Michael’, who was previously homeless but had his life turned around with the help of the charity.
Grace Heeley, Communications Officer for YMCA, commented: “It was fantastic to see so many students taking part in Sleep Easy. Daniel really threw himself into organising the event and it paid off! Thanks to the help of Daniel and the students at St Edmund’s Catholic Academy, we’re well on our way to raising £5,000 for YMCA’s Moving Forward Fund, which will help our residents move on in their lives when they are ready to leave YMCA into their own accommodation.”
St Edmund’s would like to say a very big thank you to Mr and Mrs Knibbs who donated both their time and all the food for the soup kitchen. However, most importantly to Mr Bentley, Ms Richards and Vice Chair of the Academy Committee, Ann Shorthouse, for giving up their well-earned, comfortable Friday night to accompany the students. This type of event just couldn’t go ahead without the good will and support of our fantastic staff.
