Last Friday night the team took part in RKH’s first ever Big Sleep Out in support of the Leicester-based youth homelessness charity, and our chosen charity for the year, The Y. Sleeping under outdoor shelters, on benches and wooden decking or indoors on the floor if there was no safe outside space, the team set out to raise much needed funds for the charity that provides support to vulnerable young people across Leicester city.

Although we were not together physically, we made up for it spirit, as we checked in with each other on video calls, hosted a quiz, and watched documentaries on youth homelessness, including Stacey Dooley’s The Young and Homeless. We were also joined by Carly Baraclough, Marketing and Digital Media Officer at The Y, who shared with us how the pandemic has impacted the charity and how they’ve had to adapt their services to provide additional support to local people. With these thoughts in our minds, we said goodnight to each other and bedded in for the night.

Being part of the experience gave us all a sense of gratitude for things we often take for granted, having a bed, a warm cup of coffee in the morning and the security of home. The Sleep Out made us all recognise how lucky we are and how everyone deserves to have those simple things too.

So far, we’ve more than doubled our original target and current donations stand at over £2,500. A huge thank you to everyone who has donated.

There’s still time to donate and all money received will be massively appreciated by The Y https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/rkhbigsleepout