People braved braved freezing conditions to sleep pitchside at the University of Bolton Stadium last Friday to raise money for two incredible charities.
Around 80 people signed up for the Bolton Wanderers’ first charity sleepout delivered in partnership with the club’s charitable arm, Bolton Wanderers in the Community (BWitC) and homeless charity Urban Outreach.
Fundraisers - made up of fans, residents and business representatives- sleep under the stars from 8pm to 8am to raise awareness of the struggles that homeless people face, and to fund the vital work of the two organisations.
The event has so far raised more than £18,000 and the money will be split equally between the two charities.
Friends, fans and businesses came to UniBol armed with blankets, sleeping bags, hats and gloves, including colleagues Dr Sarah Watts and Julie Forster, representing The Sixth Form Bolton which has close links with Urban Outreach.
Sarah said: “It’s semi-realistic but it’s nothing like what people have to go through on a nightly basis, we’re not going to be attacked or abused.”
Claire James and Matthew Fish from Harrisons Estate Agents and their friend Abbie Mills from Bolton-based company, Premex Group, joined the sleepout in an effort to experience what homeless people must go through.
Abbie said: “Particularly with the weather change, I think it’s going to be a massive insight, it’s probably the coldest Friday that we’ve had this year what better way to understand and relate than actually experiencing it ourselves.”
Wanderers fan Tracy Hobson brought two giant football shirts currently on tour around each of the 92 grounds in the English Football league in aid of BWitC.
She said: “We’re raising money for Bolton Wanderers in the Community by going round the grounds, and get the players to sign the shirt to auction it off and that money will go to charity as well.”
Director of children’s services at Bolton Council, Bernie Brown, said she joined the sleepout to acknowledge the work of both charities in supporting vulnerable people in Bolton.
She said: “Both Wanderers in the Community and Urban Outreach do so many great things for vulnerable people in the town and it’s a good opportunity to support the collaborative work that we do and the investment that they put into the town.
“It’s a pleasure to be here, although I wasn’t expecting it to be minus 5 degrees!”
Urban Outreach deliver services to move homeless people and those who are difficult to house into suitable and sustainable accommodation – so no one has to resort to living on the streets of Bolton at any time.
Urban Outreach CEO Dave Bagley said: “It’s a privilege to be involved and the club put so much into it, we are so fortunate.
“I choose to be here tonight, I choose to sleep in the cold but tomorrow I go home.
“I have the choice and they don’t sometimes we have to choose to do things to change world we live in and this is one of those small ways of being able to do it.”
Chief Executive of Bolton Wanderers, Neil Hart said he wold like to continue the sleepout as an annual event.
“We thought it was important to open up our doors and shine a light on homelessness and the challenges people face during the winter and to give supporters and some of our business partners the opportunity to sleep out pitchside.
“And to raise money for Bolton Wanderers in the Community and Urban Outreach, two great charities who work with vulnerable people.
BWitC deliver projects to support children, families, and older adults who may be experiencing hardship and multiple disadvantages, exacerbated by the current economic climate.
BWitC CEO Phil Mason said: “We want to raise awareness of those who are having to sleep under difficult circumstances and difficult conditions without homes, without shelter, without support, without families and Urban Outreach does a fantastic job of working in that space.”
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