Meet the ‘Duvet Ditchers’!
We’re sure you’ve heard by now about SASH’s virtual event coming up on the 27th November. In our first fully virtual fundraising event, we’re inviting supporters to ditch their duvets for the night and choose somewhere totally different to sleep – all in the name of fighting youth homelessness! As well as the novelty of sleeping somewhere different, ‘Duvet Ditchers’ can get involved in a jam-packed evening of virtual entertainment, including craft activities, den-building competitions and a quiz with some great prizes up for grabs. So, without further redo let’s meet some of the ‘Duvet Ditchers’ so far!
Bill, 61
Bill and his wife, Catherine, are familiar faces at our annual Sleepout event. Usually taking place in spring, Sleepout participants use materials such as cardboard and tarpaulins as well as tents to create their shelters for the nights in the grounds of a local school. Although the event isn’t intended to emulate the experience of homelessness, it’s does give participants the chance to push themselves out of their comfort zone and can often be a though-provoking occasion.
So, when Bill heard about Ditch Your Duvet, he jumped at the chance to be part of something he cares about so passionately in its new COVID safe form. For Bill, raising as much money as he can to help young people facing homelessness in his local area is a big motivation, so he’ll be following the instructions in his Welcome Pack and setting up a JustGiving page ready to share with friends and family before the big night.
Bill told us: “SASH is a charity very close to mine and my wife’s hearts. We passionately believe that no child or young person should ever have to live on the street and that every young person needs the support of good people, like SASH, to help them through hard times.
Raising money for SASH by sleeping outside once a year is a very minor hardship for me and it is something I plan to do until I am too old to do so.”
Bill will be toughing it out in his back garden this November, with just cardboard and a tarp for cover. Of course, sleeping outside during the winter months is not for everyone, but as you’ll see from our next group of ‘Duvet Ditchers’, there are plenty of other options to choose from!
Megan, 5, and Edith, 8
Megan and Edith, along with their mum Emily are also getting ready to ditch their duvets on the 27th November. You may recognise mum Emily from the ever-popular York Mumbler website and social account which she runs, a real hub for all things parenting in the local area. When asked why she signed up for Ditch Your Duvet along with her daughters, Emily said: “The girls can’t wait to ditch their duvet and were so excited to get their packs – It was a great way to remind them of how lucky we are, how important it is to help others as well as having some fun along the way!”
Emily’s daughters, Megan and Edith with their Craft Packs
Emily’s daughters have received their Craft Packs in the post, packed full of ready-made craft activity templates, sock puppet making kit and even a yummy hot chocolate sachet to help make the evening cosy. Megan told us: “I’m going to take part in the den-building competition with Edith. We’re excited to hear the bedtime story too.”
Anyone can have fun taking part in Ditch Your Duvet 2020. If you’d like join our ‘Duvet Ditchers’ like Bill, Emily and her daughters help make sure homelessness is never the answer, just follow the link. We can’t wait to see you there!
