STUDENTS have helped to change the lives of vulnerable people by taking part in a sleep-out.

The YMCA fundraising initiative saw Bournemouth University students spend their Saturday night 'sleeping rough' to help raise money and awareness of the town's homeless.

Last weekend saw students and YMCA representatives build their own shelters, using cardboard boxes and tarpaulin, as they prepared to sleep rough from 8pm-8am at St Michael's Primary School in Bournemouth.

Temperatures plummeted to as little as 2°C at around 4am.

Sheena Dayman, fundraising and community development manager at YMCA Bournemouth, said: "I was overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of the students. It was a cold night, but they were still smiling in the morning, and many said they understood so much better what homelessness was all about.

"They found it tough for one night and for many it is long term. They were thanking me for giving them the opportunity to help raise money for the YMCA."

And the generous participants were able to take it all in their stride as they tried to keep themselves entertained throughout the night.

Spirits were lifted at 10.30pm when Domino’s Pizza donated 50 large pizzas and, at sunrise, the Salvation Army van came to cook bacon sandwiches with ingredients kindly donated by Tesco.

So far students have helped to raise over £4,500 to help the homeless, with an additional £1,000 donated by Scape Interiors West Ltd.

One participating student, who has not been named, said: "I learned to appreciate how hard it must be for the homeless as they have it so much worse than we did.”

YMCA representatives expressed their gratitude for the support of the school's head teacher, Bob Kennedy, for hosting the event and for all their sponsors for providing refreshments and prizes, which were handed to selected winners of the quiz held during the evening.

There were lots of activities throughout the night to keep them entertained. There was a quiz about homelessness and a shelter competition. Shelters were judged by Justin Brandon from Scape Interiors Westbourne on design, warmth and security. The winners of both the quiz and shelter competition were ‘The Team Solution’ winning a trip on the Bournemouth Balloon. There was a video booth set up for the duration of the night where students could talk about their experience.

As temperatures dropped,

YMCA Bournemouth offers those on the streets a safe place to stay with the holistic support they need to move back to independent living. The vital funds raised from this event can help in a number of ways including:

• £5 could provide a counselling session to someone who needs to talk to someone they can trust

• £22 could provide a one hour intensive 1:1 support session with a trained support worker

• £50 could provide accommodation and 2 hours support for a week for a person in living in our accommodation

Group fundraising winners were Hayley Dancer, Jessica Howells and Abigail Croker with £463.00 winning a trip to Creams Café in Charminster and the winner of individual fundraiser was Elly Makem with £338.37 winning a £30 voucher for Domino’s Pizza.

Franchisee of Domino’s Bournemouth, said: “As a local business, we are delighted to help support the needs of the local community. When we heard about the Bournemouth Sleep Rough Challenge, we immediately wanted to do something to help. We’re pleased to be able to support this appeal by providing fresh, tasty pizza to the students taking part and providing a voucher to the team who raise the most amount of money.”

If you would like to know more about this national YMCA initiative and how you could get involved next year then please contact Sheena on sheena.dayman@ymcabournemouth.org.uk

If you would like to support these students then you can donate at https://mydonate.bt.com/events/sleepeasy16