The Big Skipton Sleepout took place on Friday night after being rescheduled in January due to health and safety risks from Storm Ingrid.
The event saw 170 people register, raising money for Caritas.
‘At Skipton, housing is what we do, we help people own a home and understand the negative impact it can have when people don’t have access to a house. It feels like a really well-aligned project for us,’ said Skipton chief executive Susan Fouquiere.
‘Having some sort of practical solution to homelessness is really important. The pods that Caritas are developing provide a safe space for people who are homeless, and gives a bit of dignity as well.
‘As I was preparing for this, I can’t imagine what it would be like in real life, I have the privilege of a home but we’re not trying to copy homelessness by participating, we’re raising awareness of it.’
Skipton employees were either volunteering or sleeping out themselves for the cause.
Several politicians also took part, including Housing Committee president Steve Williams, who said that he and members of his committee were keen to support and work with other organisations, including Caritas, to address the housing problem in the island.
‘I think it’s a great charity, they are being proactive and have already established two pods and are looking to provide more units too,’ he said.
‘It’s easy to be detached from it if you’re in a cosy home, thankfully it’s dry tonight, but that’s not for every night. When it was cancelled in January, the weather was diabolical, but if you were homeless you’d be out in the weather anyway.
‘There’s lots we’re trying to do as the Housing Committee to do as much as we possibly can to try and address homelessness and the general housing market.’
Caritas raises funds for modular housing project
Trustees of homelessness charity Caritas joined the Skipton initiative to raise money for its modular housing and emergency accommodation project.
Two emergency sleeping pods were installed at Vale Douzaine in November and provide short-term emergency accommodation for islanders experiencing homelessness.
‘The pods have been used for more than 70 nights. It’s good that they’re being used, but it’s not good that people need to use them,’ said Caritas chairman Graham Merfield
‘People come and register with us, we provide sleeping bags, a backpack with food and toiletries and necessities and then they can access the pod via a keypad.’
The idea for the sleeping pods came from the Rev. Daniel Foot during last year’s sleep-out event.
He said that he was awake at about 3am, cold and miserable.
‘I wanted to do some video reflection throughout the evening but I was so cold and so wet that I could not concentrate,’ he said.
‘It struck me that for most of my life I had a belief that if you worked hard enough you could lift yourself out of poverty and that experience flipped that on its head.
‘I couldn’t concentrate on doing the videos and the realisation came to me that as a priority, we needed to provide emergency shelter. I pulled out my phone and opened up Facebook and there was an advert for sleeper pods.’
He forwarded the post to the charity’s trustees, saying they needed to make it a priority over the next 12 months.
In less than that time, the pods were installed and being used.
‘I’m very proud of how far we’ve come but there’s more work to be done,’ he said.
Registrations for the sleep-out were 20% up on the previous year.
Caritas treasurer David Stoddart said that this type of event was key for awareness and for showing empathy with those already suffering and key for fundraising.
‘It’s good that we’ve taken a step forward in providing shelter to support people and it’s helping us learn about the community and what the needs are because there’s no real data on how many people are sleeping rough or have insecure accommodation,’ he said.
‘We know that winter lets are coming to an end so it will be interesting to see the impact of that and what demands there are in summer.
‘After 12 months that will give us an understanding of what the needs are.’
‘Why should a teenager have to find a home?’
Care leavers in Guernsey are also among the islanders facing homelessness.
That was the reason why the Family Placement Service took part in the sleep-out, to raise awareness for young people who also find themselves without a home.
‘We look after foster carers and adopters here on-island, as well as the supported lodging mentor scheme which supports our care leavers, for children who have either been in foster or residential care, and we support them transitioning into adulthood,’ said Vicki Tennant from the service.
‘Most of us didn’t need to find a home when we were 18, so why should we expect them to do so? In the UK, one in 67 care leavers end up homeless.’
While Guernsey does not have the same numbers, the Family Placement Service sees similar patterns in regards to sofa surfing, lack of accommodation and not having the right facilities available.
‘We’re trying to encourage as many people as possible to come forward and become supported lodging members and to find out a bit more about the scheme to see if they can potentially support a young person during that transition to adulthood,’ said Ms Tennant.
‘We’ve got an amazing leaving care service over here and they try and do as much to support as possible, but we need better facilities in regards to that transition period.’
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