After talking to a homeless person on the streets of York earlier this week I finally decided that donating small amounts to charity and giving to beggars isn't enough. Consequently, I've devised a fund-raising event to raise money for the homeless charity, Street Link. The aim, alongside raising money, is to do something that will actually generate talk and thought about the topic of homelessness, and to create something that helps us analyse our own attitudes to homelessness in the long-term. Here's what I came up with...

Sleepless nights are a regular occurrence for homeless people worldwide. For my Big Un-Sleep I'm going to stay awake overnight and write a 3000 word piece of narrative non-fiction about homelessness. Once edited, the story will be published as a free e-book in the hopes of raising awareness about this issue.

Anyone who knows me understands a sleepless night will be a considerable challenge unto itself but I'm not even allowing myself to go to sleep the following morning. It's not like a homeless person would get that luxury after a night of sleeping on concrete. I have to stay awake until at least 9pm the following day. Then I'm going to imagine how I'd feel if I did that every night for six weeks. Without a hot shower or a warm bed to look forward to. How it'd feel to watch people pass by, looking anywhere except at me because it'd be so much easier for them if I didn't exist.