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photo: Team from Spider at the Glass Door Sleep Out

5 October 2021

About 200 people gave up their beds on 1 October, raising over £150,000 (and growing) to help others find routes out of homelessness.


Sleep Out to help out

Glass Door's Sleep Out 2021 took on a more subdued tone than in previous years, with about 27% of the 216 registered participants choosing to take part remotely.

Said fundraising manager Ellie:

It made a lot of sense to have less people on the Square this year. We realised it doesn’t matter where you take part, the important thing is that people felt they had a choice, and the fundraising was still very strong.

To date, participants have raised almost £160,000 and are still pushing towards the goal of £200,000, all of which will go towards Glass Door's winter accommodation and support programmes.

Participants arriving at Glass Door

photo: Participants arriving to the Sleep Out on Duke of York Square

What this winter will look like

Many predict an influx of people becoming newly homeless with the furlough scheme over, the universal credit uplift finished, the cost of living rising, and evictions beginning to reach the courts.

Said CEO Lucy Horitz:

We’re doing everything we can to provide as much emergency accommodation as we can to be able to support everyone who has nowhere else to turn this winter.

Participants are driven by compassion

Many participants expressed their compassion for those sleeping on the streets of London.

First-time participant Brian from UniTrust (one of our corporate supporters), spoke about his motivation.

Harriet, Annabel and Priya (pictured) said they took part because they believe that "everyone deserves somewhere safe to sleep."

Three young women take part in Glass Door

Thank you

Thank you to everyone who took part, volunteered on the night, donated and helped spread the word.

Special mention is due to our friends at Cadogan Estates for supporting the event year after year. Silks PR provided pro-bono support with PR, helping secure TV coverage on BBC London and London Live. Volunteers from Ismaili Civic UK helped with set up. Partridges once again provided a delicious hot breakfast. 

Lastly, massive thanks to everyone who gave up the warmth and comfort of their own beds to take part and all those who supported them.

Said Lucy:

We cannot thank everyone enough. Together, we will create a future where no one has to sleep on the streets of London.


There’s still time to support the Sleep Out appeal to help us reach our target of £200,000.