GameGrin Editor Sleeps Rough for Charity

Hello all, and thank you for stopping by. I know that this isn't game related, but I wanted to share with you the amazing and deeply humbling experience I had at the Centrepoint Sleep Out 2013 on 7th November 2013. Centrepoint is focused on tackling the problem of homelessness, which affects 80,000 young people in the UK each year.

Fear not, I do not intend to bore you with preaching, nor will I ramble on for long. I just want to briefly tell you about my experience and share with you the story of the night. I do, however, have to give you some context by explaining what it’s all about.

Centrepoint is the UK’s leading charity in supporting young homeless people, helping them with supported accommodation, education, health and life skills. The Centrepoint Sleep Out is a national event, in which volunteers around the country sleep rough for the night to raise awareness and sponsorship for the charity.

I first became aware of the event when Centrepoint reached out for bands who were willing to provide some entertainment before the Sleep Out started at their North East venue, and volunteered to help out with my group. However, it didn't feel right to just turn up, play some music, and leave; so I decided to stay the night myself and brave the elements with the rest of the participants.

The plan for the night was to put some entertainment on for those attending, offering food and drink in exchange for donations, before turning everyone onto the streets for the Sleep Out itself. Beamish Museum in County Durham were kind enough to support Centrepoint by providing a venue, as well as additional food, drink and staff help.

As well as my own group, Pretty Livid Imps, three great musical acts entertained the crowd; The Karma Heart, The Lake Poets and The Joe Taylor Band - all of which you should look up, as they are excellent musicians and well worth a listen.

However, perhaps the most inspirational of the pre-Sleep Out line-up was the speech from the Centrepoint Youth Educators, a group of young people with first-hand experience of what it is to be a young homeless person in the UK. Their personal accounts of how they struggled with desperation and lack of opportunity really put my own problems into context.

Hearing how, with support and assistance, they all managed to turn their lives around and have now dedicated themselves to helping others really demonstrated the impact that organisations like Centrepoint can make in people’s lives.

Of course that was just the build up, and once the last act left the stage it was time to turn out the lights and head onto the streets of Beamish with our sleeping bags. It was a bitter cold night, and we held off bedding down for as long as possible, sitting in groups around camp-fires to hold off the night chills. Unfortunately, as my phone battery was long dead by this point, I have no pictures of the street to share with you.

I met some great people over the course of the night, all normal folk who had given freely of their time and sacrificed their comfort to raise money and publicity for this great cause. I also talked to many of the Centrepoint staff on site, and was genuinely impressed by their passion and commitment to the cause.

Unfortunately, we could only delay the inevitable so long, and after a while the fires began to die down. People started searching out what shelter they could find from the bitter November cold in doorways, bus stops, under awnings; wherever the wind was less biting.

I'm not sure I slept at all that night. It was hard to tell, as after a while time seemed to stand still. Despite being prepared with many layers of clothing and tucked up in my sleeping bag the cold was unbearable. I lay shivering for most of the night, occasionally getting up to wander around just to keep the blood flowing. I've never experienced a night of such discomfort; and I spent one single night on the streets, in a controlled environment, with a group. I cannot even imagine what it must be like to face such circumstances on a daily basis, and alone.

If anyone want to know more about Centrepoint and the great work they do you can visit their website, and if you would be generous enough to make a donation, no matter how small, I have set up a Just Giving page where you can make contributions via PayPal, or credit/debit card.

Please consider making a small contribution to this brilliant charity and to support the thousands of people nationwide who have given their time and sacrificed their comfort to participate in this noble event.

Sleeping rough, even for one night, was one of the most unpleasant experiences of my life; but I am glad I did it. Meeting the volunteers and the Centrepoint staff and seeing the hard work they are doing to tackle a real problem was inspirational.

7th November 2013 is definitely a night I will never forget.