On October 18th 2024, volunteers from LEAP, Bridge McFarland and the local community braved the elements and slept outside on Lincoln’s High Street from 7pm to 7am.
The purpose of the evening was to highlight the severe challenges faced by individuals experiencing rough sleeping and to raise funds to provide accommodation to those living on the streets or about to face that stark possibility.
The night started off in good spirits. We arrived promptly at 7pm, set up our cardboard bedding and unrolled our sleeping bags. Then, we headed up and down the High Street with our fundraising buckets, appealing to the public to donate any small change they had.
At approximately 10:30 PM, as the foot traffic diminished, we settled into our makeshift beds, preparing for the night ahead. It quickly became apparent just how uncomfortable the evening would be. The cold was seeping through the cardboard, and the hardness of the ground was impossible to ignore.
Yet, we carried on, entertaining each other with stories and jokes. Domino’s Pizza even stopped by and supplied us with warm pizzas to keep our spirits up.
At 1:00 AM it began to rain. Fortunately, as we were in a sheltered doorway and bundled up with many layers, it didn’t affect us too much. That is not to say, we weren’t thinking about the thousands of homeless people across the UK who weren’t as fortunate as us. Who perhaps, didn’t have the layers or sleeping bags we had. How the rain could be soaking through to their skin and how it wasn’t just one night of homelessness for them, but rather, one night of many.
At 3:00 AM, the vast majority of us had fallen asleep. Some however struggled to do so, as every now and then drunk individuals would come along and be a nuisance. Police sirens and lorries passing by also made it difficult to drift off.
By 5:00 AM, most of us wanted to be home. To be wrapped up under our warm duvets and out of the rain. Passing comments were made about how you don’t realise how awful rough sleeping is until you experience it.
As a society we tend to ignore difficulties that don’t affect us personally. When we get into our warm beds each night, we pay little thought to those who don’t have a bed of their own. So, we were finding the experience eye-opening in that regard.
7:00 AM couldn’t have come sooner. We quickly packed up our sleeping bags and headed over to McDonalds, where we received complementary breakfasts for our efforts. The warm food was a welcome delight after hours of being outside in the cold.
It was at this point, that the rain turned into a downpour. As much as we were glad to miss the worst of the weather, we felt awful for those who were still out there. Because for us, homelessness was just a twelve-hour experience, but for homeless individuals it’s their life.
We’d like to say thank you to everyone who has supported Sleep for LEAP ’24. Whether that be through fundraising on our behalf or participating on the night. Your efforts will make a real difference to supporting vulnerable people in Lincoln and Gainsborough.
If you didn’t get a chance to donate to our Sleep for LEAP fundraising campaigns, you needn’t worry! You can still donate to us through our website, just click here.