We are a group of young Civil Servants who over the next few months will be undertaking sponsored events, fundraisers, and voluntary hours to raise money for the Cardinal Hume Centre, who work to alleviate homelessness and poverty in the Westminster area. They provide shelter, advice and opportunities to some of the most vulnerable people in London to get them off the streets and into employment, homes and independent lives.

Upcoming events:

January 31st: Collaborating with two other groups of civil servants, we will be raising money for various homelessness and support charities by doing a ‘sponsored sleep out’ overnight. We will be doing this from 6pm to 6am this at the Actor’s Church in Covent Garden, where we will be bucket collecting, before using their small garden to try to get a few hours sleep! Please pop along to lend some moral support if you can!

In doing a sleep out, we are not trying to mimic or imitate what it is like to sleep on the streets, and appreciate that we are extremely privileged to have waterproof clothing and sleeping bags to keep the worst of the weather out. However, the experience will give us some insight into the difficulties faced by those people who sleep rough in the UK, if only from a physical perspective. This will primarily be a big personal challenge against the cold, and we would be very grateful for any donations.