St Dunstan’s pupils hoping to hit £5,000 target for homeless charity after sleepout

Students do most of their sleeping during the day – at least that’s the myth.

But some teenagers have put their doziness to good use by sleeping out to raise money for a homeless charity.

Pupils and staff at St Dunstan’s College, Stanstead Road, Catford, have brought in more than £4,800 for Centrepoint.

St Dunstan’s Headmaster, Mr Nicholas Hewlett, said: ‘Homelessness on our streets is an ongoing and real concern, and a terrible indictment on our society.

‘As a community proud to have compassion as one of its core values, St Dunstan’s seeks, through our broad educational purpose, to help young people see the importance of empathy and relating to those less fortunate than ourselves.

For those involved, it helped humble us in our appreciation of the travails faced by so many.

For our whole community, it raised awareness of the very real issue of homelessness on our streets.”

Ms Florence Margaroli, Head of Charity at St Dunstan’s, organised the sleep out with the headmaster after being shocked at rising numbers of young people being homeless in the country.

She said: “After walking back from the carol service, Mr Hewlett and I were shocked and saddened by the number of young people sleeping rough.

We got thinking how we could do something to raise awareness of the horrible circumstances and raise money for Centrepoint, which aims to end homelessness by 2037.

“Sleeping in a cardboard box was an interesting and uncomfortable experience. I was lucky to be surrounded by other people in a safe location. I can’t imagine what it is like for many young homeless individuals who must sleep out on their own in an unsafe and lonely environment.

“We are delighted with the amount that has been raised so far, I never thought we would raise this amount. It is an excellent achievement, and the money will now go to a very worthy cause.

I hope the students and staff got a small insight in to what it must be like to sleep rough and to appreciate all the hard work that charities like Centrepoint do to help reduce the number of people sleeping rough.”

Centrepoint provides homeless young people with a range of support including accommodation, health advice and life skills in order to help them back into education, training and employment.

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/st-dunstans-college