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Hull KR's 'eye-opening' charity sleep-out helps homeless with thousands raised
Hull Kingston Rovers hosted a charity outdoor sleep-over that was an "eye opener" - helping homeless people and others in need locally - as more than £15,000 was raised.
People slept in the back of Craven Park's West Stand or in the North Stand, with sleeping bag, pillow and cardboard, helping Hull Homeless and Rootless Project (Hull HARP), Dove House Hospice and the Hull KR Foundation. Different ages and genders took part and there are still opportunities to donate to the fundraising, which was an idea from within the Sewell Group.
Paul Hamnett, Chief Executive of Hull KR Foundation, said: "We chatted to them afterwards and they said it was challenging. They are grateful in terms of what they have and had an insight into the challenges that face people trying to get a night of sleep on cold concrete with noises going off in the background. And we weren't at risk of being abused and physically attacked. But people still felt vulnerable to the elements and it was a real eye-opener to what people have to go through.
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"This challenge tests your resilience, it tests your resolve, and how you deal with those conditions. And they do it for one night but people are doing that night after night, sometimes for many years.
"There was a bit of trepidation. But their motivations were pure in terms of wanting to help. The expectations were that it was going to be a challenging evening. Doing it in November was one of the reasons, rather than doing it in the summer where we might get a nice evening. The temperature was in the lower single figures and people started to feel it."
Discussing the issue of homelessness, he said: "It's not going to get any easier, the scale of people becoming homeless is increasing because of the financial hardship that the country is currently going through at the moment. There's a risk that it could get worse before it gets better.
"Many cities have unfortunately too many people homeless. We were trying to raise money for organisations that help the community and work with people who are at risk. We are all pretty close to potentially becoming homeless in terms of the financial climate. It was about raising the profile and supporting local charities."
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