Southend YMCA’s annual virtual fundraiser Sleep Easy is BACK on Friday 11th March. This year there are two exciting ways people can get involved and help raise vital funds to support vulnerable young people.
Sleep Easy PJ Day
This year there is an exciting new fundraising event taking place as part of Sleep Easy. Southend YMCA is inviting local schools, organisations and businesses to support our Sleep Easy fundraising campaign by wearing your pyjamas for the day and donating £1, or getting friends and family to sponsor you.
Sleep Easy: ONE night of your life can make a lifetime of difference to a young person
Your challenge is to sleep anywhere away from your bed for ONE night! Why not make it a family affair and build a den, if you have a safe outside space maybe sleep in your garden...or what about your bathtub! It doesn't matter where it is, as long as it's not your bed. You can enter as an individual, as a family or group, or maybe get your street or school team to enter?!
You could even do both…wear your PJs for the day and then sleep anywhere but your bed!
YMCA England & Wales will be hosting a live broadcast at 7 pm on Facebook on the night where your photos could be featured. Post a pic of your PJs day and/or your creative sleeping spaces tagging @SOUTHENDYMCA on any of our social platforms and make sure you use #YMCASleepEasy.
YMCA Southend is proud to be once again taking part in YMCA's national Sleep Easy which has seen more than 7,000 people sleep rough in the last 10 years to raise over £1.5m for local YMCA services that help young people rebuild their lives. In ordinary times, this would have involved groups and individuals meeting at a YMCA, building cardboard shelters, sharing the evening outside and together experiencing the harsh realities of life on the streets. While we cannot be together for Sleep Easy, we can still help save young people lives.
The challenges of running an event like this during the current pandemic are many, however, they do not compare to the difficulties that young homeless people are battling every single day. Southend YMCA’s supported accommodation, Newlands, in Southend, currently houses 36 young people at risk of homelessness and funds raised through Sleep Easy will go towards raising capacity at Newlands and helping even more young people in 2022.
You can find out more and set up your fundraising page at https://www.southendymca.org.uk/sleepeasy2022
For any questions about fundraising or participating please contact sachaedwards@southendymca.org.uk
Southend YMCA is a local charity offering life-changing, creative and developmental opportunities for young people. It provides accommodation, counselling, mentoring, life skills training and positive activities to the young people of Southend-on-Sea and surrounding areas.