More than a dozen people braved the cold and rain to sleep outside in a bid to shine a light on the issue of young people living rough. Chloe Wilson who joined them reports
BackUp North West, a charity which provides services and accommodation to youth people across Bolton who are experiencing homelessness or at risk of being homeless hosted its seventh Big Bolton Sleepout.
The event was to raise awareness of the conditions faced by some young people and to raise money to help them.
A massive £5,000 was raised.
A total of 25 people, including three children, took part in the fundraiser, sleeping outside the BackUp headquarters on Bridgeman Street from 7pm to 7am to experience just a small fraction of what homeless people have to experience on a daily basis.
Maura Jackson, CEO of BackUp North West, said the funds raised will go straight back into services for young people.
She said: "This is our seventh year, we missed one because of the pandemic but we did a virtual one in the first year of lockdown so we've still done six.
"The sleepouts are partly to raise money for the charity which is much needed but it also raises a lot of awareness, so each year we have ended up with people that haven't been involved the year before and the numbers grow each time and that means that their friends and colleagues learn about us and the word spreads more which is really good.
"But also it gives the people taking part in a tiny tiny fraction of being homeless, it gives you that degree of discomfort and reminds you that we really really are very fortunate.
"And you're actually making a sacrifice so they deserve the money that is raise.
"I haven't even got words to describe how vital it is."
She said the service is so important for young people.
Maura said: "It's imperative because if they are not supported then they are out in a community at risk and that means that they are either rough sleeping which obviously creates massive risks, such as risks of death, or they put themselves in situations because they want to avoid that, that carries the same amount of risk just to have somewhere to sleep over night."
Maura said young people are going to be hit hard with the cost of living crisis.
She said: "Twenty-six per cent of young people referred to us last year had slept rough before they reached our services and that's the highest number it has ever been.
"In 2012 it was only five per cent, the rates are hideous.
READ MORE: Youth homelessness charity supports hundreds of vulnerable people each year
"The cost of living crisis is horrific, before, the expendable income young people had used to leave them with about a tenner a week to be able to buy food and toiletries, and now that's disappeared completely."
A group of colleagues who work as social workers at Bolton Children Services, Danielle Payne, Jamie Farrell, Kimberley Fitton and Judith Wilkinson all decided to take part after Jamie asked them to come along.
They said they wanted to get involved because they work with vulnerable children everyday and want to help raise awareness any way they can.
Danielle said: "We decided to take part because our friend roped us in, we are from Children's Services so we use BackUp North West and wanted to raise money for them.
Judith said: "It's really important people support young homeless people, it's close to our hearts because we work with vulnerable children and young people and we have worked closely with the charity before and they do a really good service for our young people in Bolton, so we are happy to be here to support it."
Leigh Drennan decided to take part because he also wanted to help anyway he could by raising money for the charity.
He said: "I think youth homelessness is very important, I think a lot of people could easily fall into this trap and for all but circumstances it could happen to me.
READ MORE: The Big Bolton Sleepout opened my eyes to the struggles homeless people face
"I have got friends who have been in situations where they have ended up homeless and in my job I work with 100s of homeless men and women everyday, it's just about putting something back into the community, looking out for other people and giving back to people who are a bit less fortunate."
As everyone came together for a night of sleeping out in the cold and rain, Bolton FM played live music until bedtime, Carrs Pasties provided pasties and peas and there were quizzes with some prizes and in the morning there were donuts provided by Greggs and bacon sandwiches.
Each person who took part was awarded a certificate.
And although there were plenty of smiles and lots of fun before bedtime, reality soon kicked in as temperatures got colder.
Many of the people taking part in the fundraiser had multiple layers on and the event really did shine a light on the many homeless people across Bolton who sleep on the streets with the bare minimum and how important it is that they are supported as the cost of living crisis continues.
To donate funds to BackUp North West to help raise money for services for youth homelessness, go to https://backup-charity.org.uk/fundraising/donate/
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