Hundreds to take part in Birmingham's Big Sleep Out
Nov 25 2009 by Jane Tyler, Birmingham Mail
BIRMINGHAM’S famous Big Sleep Out will be held again next week, and it will be the biggest yet.
To mark the event’s 20th anniversary charity St Basil’s is hoping to get 500 people signed up to take part on the night of December 4.
The event sees hundreds of people sleeping in cardboard boxes in the car park and road outside St Basil’s offices in Heath Mill Lane, Deritend.
Every penny raised from sponsorship goes to helping the charity prevent homelessness among 16 to 25 year olds in Birmingham and other parts of the West Midlands.
When the first sleep out was held in St Philip’s Cathedral in 1989, just five people took part.
Over the years it has grown and last year around 350 people slept rough, raising £32,000.
Fund-raising officer Steve Rainbow said because it was their 20th anniversary on December 4 they were aiming to get 500 people and collect at least £35,000.
“It costs approximately £38 to keep a young person at St Basil’s for a night so if people can raise £200 then that will fund five places,” he said.
He said the charity provided accommodation in its hostels and projects for over 350 young people and each year found permanent homes for between 150 and 250 people.
The Big Sleep Out is well organised with everyone who turns up receiving their own package of cardboard, donated by Jaffa Box, from which they can build their own shelter for the night.
Posh department store Harvey Nichols provides sausage and bacon rolls, soup and teas and coffees throughout the night until midnight, and then serves breakfast again at 5am.
The road outside the car park is closed to traffic and is patrolled all night by security guards and staff, and toilets are available in St Basil’s offices.
Public relations officer Catherine Clarke, who helped organise and took part in the first sleep out, said it was a fantastic event.
“It is the nearest experience we can give people to what it’s like to sleep rough,” she said.
“The atmosphere is fantastic and we’ve had one family who have done it every year.”
St Basil’s has been running since 1972 and provides accommodation for homeless youngsters in projects across Birmingham, as well as an information centre, a resettlement centre, help with education and training and a homeless prevention centre.
