Crawley Open House organises another ‘Big Sleep Out’ to raise money to help support their vital services

The fundraisers laid out their sleeping bags in the Queen’s Square and settled down for the night to experience what it's like to sleep rough for just one night.

There were many people involved, including Councillor Peter Lamb and fundraisers from several local businesses, including Dolby Visisol, Elliot Scott Group, ILG and Caridon Property.

See more: Crawley homeless charity help families struggling with the energy crisis this winter

The event didn’t just involve people sleeping rough in the Queen’s Square, but volunteers also raised money by sleeping out in their homes.

Ian Wilkins, fundraising and relationship manager for Crawley Open House said: “We are all sleeping rough in the Queen’s Square to raise the profile of homelessness in Crawley and the surrounding areas and to raise funds for the vital work of Crawley Open House.

“We’ve got about 35 people sleeping out tonight and have been sponsored to do it. They are all raising money for Crawley Open House. We’ve done it for a few years and it’s become an annual event.

“We’ve been really blessed and have raised £12,000 already. We’ve been supported by some wonderful people and companies. It’s been a very successful event and we are grateful.

“There’s too many rough sleepers in Crawley. One is too many. Some of them have been in temporary accommodation since Covid-19, so we are grateful for that but there are still too many people who are struggling to find suitable accommodation.

“We are about to open a new resource centre, right opposite our hostel and the money raised tonight will be used to purchase fittings and furniture for the new resource centre. We are going to use every penny to kit out a workshop, learning area and kitchen.

“The whole point of the learning centre is to get the people staying with us back to work, education and training.”

See more: Crawley Open House has continued its vital work during the pandemic, Customers queue from 7.20am as new hmv Crawley store opens - videoThere’s still time to donate and you can do so here: https://www.crawleyopenhouse.co.uk/makea-donation