The Big Newham Sleepout

During winter, our charity runs winter night shelter (WNS) for homeless single adults in London Borough of Newham. This year, we will divide the season into 2 circuits. Circuit A will run for 9 weeks before Christmas, and Circuit B will run for 8 weeks from January to March 2024. Guests will stay 28 days and work with their assigned Caseworker towards their move-on. The work will involve retrieving documents, such as IDs, NINO, bank account; linking with an Immigration Support Worker to regulate or update the immigration status in the UK, apply for benefits, facilitate access to employment, training and education, and supporting them with applications for housing.

At the end of Circuit A, there will be 15 people who would need to move on. Although, some will have a clear move-on option, some would be still waiting for positive outcomes longer than the provision of the WNS. Reason for delay may be due to the prolonged immigration case at the Home Office or delays in Universal Credit application, or awaiting some documents without which the move-on would be impossible. We estimate that we will have around 8 guests who would leave the Circuit A just before Christmas without having a move-on option.

We hope to raise money to book them a hotel space until the next Circuit starts in January 2024. Having a safe place to spend the festive period at, would bring some peace and stability to our guests and peace of mind to those who support them.

For that, we run a fundraiser called The Big Newham Sleep Out 2023 for those would like to participate, and this separate Crowdfunding page for those who would prefer donate without the need of participation - although donors are invited to participate in the evening quiz if they wish to. Details for the event can be found below:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-big-newham-sleepout-tickets-748335631017?aff=oddtdtcreator