Hundreds to take part in Big SleepOut in Hillingdon

Hundreds of people are set to brave the freezing night to sleep in cardboard boxes to raise money and awareness for the homeless in Hillingdon.

The annual event is organised by Trinity Homeless Projects, based in Redford Way, Uxbridge, together with Slough-based charity Slough Homeless Our Concern.

A few of the line-up for this year’s Big SleepOut include, comedian and YouTube star Diane Spencer, comedy from Swipe Left Comedy and live music from Saint and DJ Brandon Block.

Last year, around 460 people had spent the night sleeping in cardboard boxes at Hillingdon Athletics Stadium, in Gatting Way, Uxbridge. All together they managed to raise around £65,000.

The SleepOut encourages more people to make more noise, take more action and draw more people in on the campaign against homelessness. Trinity Homeless Project says that this event has a big impact as “so many street homeless people become invisible: the dehumanisation that they face from every angle is intolerable when confronted.”

The Big SleepOut is as much about raising awareness and having an impact on people, as it is about raising money. It involves a night of people swapping their beds for flat-pack boxes, flasks and three or four layers of clothing, as they spend the night under the stars for a mini taster of what street homelessness might be like.

Trinity Homeless Project has committed to working together to support the lives of individuals and transforming the lives of those affected by homelessness.

They provide 73,000 nights of accommodation to homeless people, within the Hillingdon borough every year as well as offering work placements and life coaching for over 200 people.

More to come.