Last Friday, twenty-three Year 8 pupils from our RIDE (Respect, Inclusion, Diversity and Equality) committee and five members of staff, slept outside on cardboard boxes to raise money for local homeless charity, Launchpad Reading.
The 'sleep-out' coincided with World Homeless and World Mental Health Day, marked every year on the 10 October to raise awareness of those experiencing homelessness often linked to poor mental health.
Launchpad is Reading’s leading homelessness prevention charity, initially set up as a soup kitchen in 1979 by a group of students at Reading University. Today, it provides a holistic service to the homeless and anyone at risk of not having a home.
RIDE's fundraising and awareness campaign started with busking after school last Friday, successfully raising over £500 in just thirty minutes.
Later, before temperatures dipped, St Andrew's Mental Health Lead and Form 5 Tutor, Haig Howard showed pupils a selection of video clips about homelessness in the UK, and prompted earnest discussions through a quiz. He said:
"While our pupils won't know what sleeping rough night-after-night genuinely feels like, our 'sleep-out' gave them a little insight into this complex societal problem, here in the UK and across the world."
To date, £2108 has been generously donated to Launchpad on the Just Giving page, in addition to the £500 raised from busking. Naturally, RIDE would love to raise more. If you haven't yet donated, but would still like to - even a tiny amount - please click the link above.
None of this would've been possible without the RIDE committee, and teachers, Haig Howard, James Mabbett, Sophie Hearn, Steve Gair and James Fearn. You can watch a short film shot by our children on the night below. Thank you to everyone for their support.
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