More than 350 fundraisers braved the elements to bed down for the night in a cardboard box at this year’s St Basils Big SleepOut in Birmingham.
The annual event organised by the youth homelessness charity St Basils took place at its Digbeth headquarters, as the railway arches were transformed into a cardboard city courtesy of boxes supplied by Solihull company Jaffabox.
The event has always enjoyed support from Birmingham’s corporate community and this year also saw a number of satellite SleepOuts across Birmingham at churches and colleges.
More than £35,000 was raised in 2010 to help St Basils continue its work preventing youth homelessness and it is hoped this year’s event will raise even more.
Staff from Harvey Nichols in Birmingham provided the food and staffed the canteen, with five staff also taking part in the challenge.
The event was visited by the Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Councillor Anita Ward, who introduced the midnight service.
Birmingham Post editor Alun Thorne was one of those who took part.
“St Basils is a brilliant charity and an institution in this city.” he said. “Although homelessness is a problem, Birmingham has a comparatively low rate of rough sleeping and I’m sure St Basils plays a huge part in that.’’
St Basils’ head of fundraising Lucy Hackett said: “In these difficult times, we are so grateful for the positive response we have had from our local communities and that so many people came down to take part in this sponsored challenge to help raise funds for us.”
* Anyone wishing to make a donation to the event can do so by texting ZZZZ11 £5 to 70070.
