image: Spider's Glass Door Sleep Out Team

11 October 2022

On the night of Friday, 7 October 2022, Glass Door held its 10th Sleep Out, gathering more than 130 participants in Duke of York Square and elsewhere. So far, the charity’s supporters have raised more than £70,000.  

Sleep Out to Help Out  

This year, as Glass Door Sleep Out returned for the 10th time, 75 people gave up their beds and gathered at Duke of York Square. Many more got together at remote events, at their churches, schools or back gardens, all to raise crucial funds for Glass Door’s guests, and awareness on homelessness ahead of winter.  

To date, participants have raised more than £70,000, all of which could run our shelters for one month this winter.  

“It’s an easy thing to do once a year, and it’s really important that as we go into winter we raise awareness, we remind people that homelessness is still there, and it’s still a crisis,” says Jeremy, who has taken part in all 10 Sleep Out events organised by Glass Door.  

A difficult winter ahead for many 

As we enter winter and temperatures drop, we expect to see a great demand for our services amidst a growing cost-of-living crisis.   

Every year, hundreds of people come to us in desperate need for support, because their life has fallen apart. People who have nowhere safe to sleep. This year, there are added challenges from the cost-of-living crisis. Funds raised will be crucial as the winter ahead will be very difficult for many.

- Jo Carter, Interim CEO of Glass Door 

To offer shelter, hope, and a chance to get off the streets to those who need it the most, Glass Door will be operating three open access night shelter circuits in London during the coldest months of winter. They will be open for 16 weeks until 26 March 2023, and will offer a safe place to sleep and a nutritious breakfast and dinner to 75 people each night. On-site, Glass Door caseworkers will work with our shelter guests, supporting them to build their own pathway out of homelessness.   

Thank you! 

Thanks to all the Sleep Out participants, the staff who made the event a success, Silks PR provided pro-bono support with PR by helping secure TV coverage on BBC London and London Live, and our partners Cadogan Estate for providing a safe space for the sleepers.

We would also like to thank Partridges, a family run food shop in central London which has been providing breakfast for the brave sleepers who stay through the night since the first Sleep Out in 2013. 

It was something we wanted to support. It happens right on our doorstep, so we offered and volunteered to provide breakfast. It has been success for sleepers and a positive thing for us to do.

- John Shepherd, Managing Director of Partridges

 

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How you can help 

There’s still time to support the Sleep Out appeal and help us raise more!

Please donate