Dons Local Action Group have partnered with Tooting Community Kitchen, Faith in Action and Kingston Churches Action on Homelessness to host a fundraising ‘Big Sleep Out’.
The sleep out will take place on 27 November in aid of tackling homelessness in South West London.
The event, which aims to raise £20,000, will be situated in the Cherry Red Records Stadium, the same arena that the Men and Ladies teams of AFC Wimbledon take to on matchdays.
Volunteers, football fans and the general public will join the CEO of the South West London football club, Joe Palmer, and Co-founder of the Dons Local Action Group, Xavier Wiggins.
Homelessness is an issue that needs to be addressed, especially after the pandemic, and Wiggins said: “The evening will be a reality check for all of us, but it is for an extremely worthwhile cause”.
These organisations have collectively helped people to break the cycle of homelessness and they continue to provide much needed support to people who find themselves in this situation from within our community.”
Darren Short, who is taking part in the Big Sleep Out added: “Homelessness is such an important cause. There are so many people struggling in our community and anything we can do to raise awareness and money for the charities can only help improve conditions for them.”
In Wandsworth alone it is estimated that there are over 400 homeless adults – an increase of 24% from the previous year.
Participants will need to fundraise £250 each through sponsorship and spend the night outside in just a sleeping bag.
All of the money raised through the event will be split between the organisations involved to continue the important work they do in fighting poverty within the community.
Dons Local Action Group was set up as a COVID Response volunteer group providing food, tech and other support to those in need across the three boroughs of Merton, Wandsworth and Kingston.
The charity have distributed over 500 tonnes of food in 2021 and over 2200 devices since the pandemic began, to local people experiencing poverty.
For more information, or to get involved please visit www.donslocalaction.org.
