Revd LYNN HURRY, vicar of Harlow's St Mary-at-Latton church, hosted a sleepout at her church in support of the Streets2Homes charity. Here she tells of her experience of being homeless for a night
WE were really pleased at how the event went and the response by people.
Locally, Streets2homes does a tremendous year-round job of supporting those who find themselves in difficult situations, including being out on the street homeless.
This was why when the charity approached me about hosting the event here, we as a church were delighted to organise it and help to raise cash for the charity and an awareness of their work and the plight of so many who find themselves homeless.
The evening began at St Mary-at-Latton with fellowship together over a cup of tea in the church while being entertained by a live band, The Marionettes, playing 60s and 70s covers as we tucked into some delicious home-made cake which Robert Halfon, the Harlow MP, brought with him. Folk were welcomed and encouraged by the Chair of Harlow Council, Coun Sue Livings.
We enjoyed one another's company until 10.40pm, concluding with a short act of worship before it was lights out and under the stars out in our churchyard we went.
However, the stars were not to be seen as there was low cloud all night and the weather was extremely windy, which made it difficult to keep ground sheets down! It also got pretty cold during the night as the cold comes up from the ground despite many layers of cardboard, groundsheets and sleeping bags.
About 40 people had gathered in church, and 25 of us slept out all night, which included myself and local hospital chaplain Revd Christine Hawkins, Harlow councillors Simon Carter, Andrew Johnson and Lesley Rideout and Brian Winder, trustee chairman of Streets2Homes.
Everyone who slept out braved the prevailing winds until 6.30am when we were provided with a cooked breakfast by people from our church.
There was a real willingness of people to be there and take part, and a tremendous fellowship together bringing along different folk from different backgrounds and share the experience.
We hoped people would see what it's like and build empathy for people going through such struggles on a regular basis.
The thing that struck me most was that despite sleeping out in the cold all night and being extremely uncomfortable and having very little sleep, none of us really could fully experience that of the homeless, because each one of us knew that we had a home to go back to, a safe place that was ours.
Homeless people do not have that luxury.It really has made many of us more aware of the serious situation in our borough and nationwide.
It also brought a lot of publicity locally for Streets2Homes, as well as raising a few hundred pounds for their work through sponsorship money.
Would I do it again? Yes! But I'd want to bring a mattress next time!
- For more information aboutthe Streets2Homes charity, log on to http://streets2homes.org/
Picture caption
Harlow councillor Lesley Rideout and her daughter, right, settle down for a night in the cold at St Mary-at-Latton churchyard in support of Streets2Homes.