St Mary's Calne
On Thursday 12th October, members of the UV, LVI and UVI, along with six members of staff, braved the elements to sleep outside to raise funds for Doorway Wiltshire, a Chippenham-based charity helping people who are homeless or moving on from homelessness.
Unlike previous Sponsored Sleep Outs that we have held, this night was not a cold crisp night, it was mild but extremely wet. Having initially decided that it wouldn’t be possible to sleep on the grassy area we made plans to use the gym.
Following the service of reflection in the Chapel, led by UVI participants, the students decided that it really wasn’t challenging enough to sleep in the gym and that it was important for them to sleep outside.
After cookies and hot chocolate, Mrs Willcox, Miss Kitson and I headed to the garden with the Sixth Form and settled under the pergola; the UV, accompanied by Mrs Toland, Mrs M Davies and Mrs Carter admirably agreed to sleep in doorways in and around the library and teaching block.
With the torrential rain that simply looked like a down pipe, many struggled to sleep from the noise of the rain, and as I walked round to check on everyone in the early hours, I was very surprised to see that no one ventured into the gym and everyone slept until 0700.
Thank you to everyone who has sponsored us. Jo Kitching from Doorway returned to address the community in Chapel this morning and we were delighted to let her know that our JustGiving page has nearly reached £3,000 including gift aid and that all proceeds from today’s Home Clothes day will be gifted to the charity.
Today she delivered an uplifting talk focussing on the valuable work from the past year. Having heard so much about the difficulties the homeless face and the rise in numbers of people who are homeless (which we learned are higher than in 2019 when we established links with the charity), they are working hard to provide support, direction and opportunity for their guests. We enjoyed seeing the many photos of the different projects, football clubs, talented artwork and social groups.
Whilst those of us who slept out know that our experience in no way reflects the realities the homeless face, we are grateful that the giving up of our comfortable beds on that wet night has encouraged so many to sponsor us. We know that the money we raise for Doorway is put to extremely good use and we look forward to continuing to support the charity.
Thank you to all those who have donated to this valuable cause. You can still support this event by donating to our JustGiving page - https://www.justgiving.com/page/st-marys-calne-sponsored-sleep-out-2023
Mrs Claire Bolton, Head of Community & Partnerships