Creative agency staff have raised over £2,500 for the city’s leading youth homelessness charity after spending a night sleeping under the stars.
This year, creative agency Rock Kitchen Harris (RKH) has been supporting The Y as its 2020 charity of the year.
As part of this, staff held a sleep out as part of their fundraising work on Friday, September 11. Thanks to generous donations, the team has so far raised over £2,500.
Gathering as a group was not an option due to Leicester’s current Covid-19 restrictions, so the team slept in their gardens or on their floors with just blankets, jumpers, hats and gloves as protection from the elements.
Paul Brown, CEO of The Y, said: “This is an incredible effort by the team at Rock Kitchen Harris to create their own event and raise a fantastic amount of money.”
“For one night they’ve chosen to experience just a taste of what it is like to be vulnerably housed or even sleeping outside. It has opened up some really interesting questions and dialogue amongst the participants.
“This money will help us to maintain our efforts to boost the skills and confidence of our young people having faced this period of increased isolation. It will help us continue the support they need to achieve independence and work readiness in this uncertain time. Thank you to all who took part.”
The money will allow The Y to provide specialist coaching to help young people develop their skills, rebuild their confidence and achieve work readiness or education placements.
Ian Moore, Director at Rock Kitchen Harris, said: “We’re delighted to have raised so much for The Y through our first ever sleep out event. The Y is vital to Leicester and we hope that this money will make a big difference at a time when support for the charity and the young people it works with is more important than ever.”
During the sleep out, the team kept in touch via video call and were joined by a representative from The Y to talk about the charity’s work and the challenges it currently faces. They also watched and discussed documentaries about youth homelessness to try to better understand the challenges that thousands of young people face.
Ian added: “It was a cold and uncomfortable night for the team, and whilst we know that one night sleeping outside doesn’t replicate the experience of homelessness, all those who took part gained a real appreciation for how lucky we are to have the home comforts that we sometimes take for granted.”
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