Help us make a difference

Winter is upon us. For the last few years’ I have taken part in the Vinnies CEO Sleepout to raise money for services to be provided to Melbourne’s ever growing homeless community. This year I am sleeping outside in the cold twice in June: tonight at work in Heatherton with some colleagues and in a few weeks’ time in the city with the official Vinnies CEO sleep out crew.

Ten of us are leaving the comfort of our beds for a cold and hard night in the open. Mother Nature is going all out to make sure we have an authentic experience. We will really feel the cold hard truth of life outside of a cosy bedroom with the current forecast for 2 degrees Celsius overnight in our neck of the woods. The fog is already rolling across our cardboard beds and I’m sure it will feel a good deal colder at 3am. While we will be safer than many who sleep rough we will feel the cold seep into our sleeping bags through the sheet of cardboard that will serve as a mattress. With no access to food apart from the standard soup van fare and no pillows, doonas and hot water bottles we will get a taste of what life is like for those who do not have a bedroom to call their own.

I’m asking you to support us in whatever way you can. Here are some things you can do to support us:

• Follow us on Twitter (@semphn) or Facebook (bit.ly/SEMPHN) and send us a note of encouragement, either tonight or on June 23.

• Find a sleeping bag to donate (those with a water proof cover are the best in case of damp conditions). Better still put a call out for sleeping bags in any newsletters, social media and other channels you can think of that might work. Contact me and I will arrange a way to take any sleeping bags off your hands and get them to Vinnies on the 23 June.

• Donate to my CEO sleepout page - https://www.ceosleepout.org.au/ceos/vic-ceos/elizabeth-deveny-semphn

• Next time you see a person who might be sleeping rough – smile and start a conversation

• Think about how you can make a difference through the work that you do and the connections that you have – everything helps!

• Spread the word re the CEO Sleepout on June 23. Friends, family, sporting clubs and schools – any donations of cash and sleeping bags will do a world of good.

We’ve got it easy it’s just one night (well two for me!). Anything you can do to help will make a difference.