Sleep Out

On Friday 6 October 2017, local homeless charity Glass Door will host its fifth annual Sleep Out event with Duke of York Square, Chelsea. Hundreds of people are expected to brave potentially wet and windy weather to spend a night sleeping on the pavement to raise money for church-based homeless shelters in London.

The event’s main sponsor, the Cadogan Estate, is once again providing the use of Duke of York Square, security and portable lavatories on the night.

This year’s Sleep Out aims to fund a network of shelters in three London boroughs: Kensington & Chelsea, Hammersmith & Fulham and Wandsworth.
This coming winter, plans are in place to extend the number of individuals sheltered every night to about 100, up from 87.

Last year’s event raised over £180,000 with over 300 people taking part. These funds helped Glass Door expand their network of winter shelters. A total of 420 individuals found the chance to get off the streets for as long as they needed it.

The need for emergency shelter shows no sign of abating. Government benefits have been cut, and the property market in London remains prohibitively high for many. The Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea has some of the biggest statistical differences between the richest and poorest residents. Rough sleeping in England has risen dramatically since 2010 – up 16% last year and 30% the year before.