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Time running out to join YMCA sleep out challenge
There is still time for Norfolk businesses and other organisations to sign up for the YMCA Norfolk Sleep Easy challenge, on Saturday March 1, to spend a night sleeping under the stars to help tackle homelessness
 YMCA Norfolk is staging its fifth annual Sleep Easy challenge to individuals as well as teams of work colleagues and community groups to give up their warm bed for one night, brave the cold and sleep outside in a cardboard box to help raise awareness and funding to address the issue of homelessness in the county.
One of the companies already signed up is independent financial advisors, Insight Financial Associates, which also took part last year. Communication and Marketing Manager, Sharon Hollinger, said: “Last year, when my colleagues and I slept out, it really brought home the plight of the young homeless people in Norwich and Norfolk and how terrible it must be to not have a bed to sleep in. It is our privilege to be able to support the YMCA’s excellent work of helping to give hope to vulnerable young people in our city”
Peter Hurrell, director of Countrywide Anglia, is also leading a team taking up the challenge, he said: “Every day we at Abbotts market and sell dream homes throughout East Anglia and often take for granted the shelter, warmth and security such homes bring. We are committing to YMCA Norfolk’s Sleep Easy event so that we can not only experience what it can be like to have just cardboard for your shelter whilst sleeping in cold and possibly wet conditions on the streets of Norfolk, but also to raise awareness and money for such a great cause. I am sure we will have a deeper appreciation of the true value of a home after this experience”
YMCA Norfolk communications and fundraising manager, Susie Knights, said: “Sleep Easy is not an attempt to recreate the sense of danger and isolation faced by many homeless people but to provide an insight into some of the challenges they face. While it will be an eye-opening experience, it will also be an evening of fun and activities through which supporters can make a real difference in the lives of disadvantaged young people”
The date of the event, originally scheduled for February 1, has been moved forward one month exactly to Saturday March 1 to allow more time for participants to sign up and look for sponsors
The challenge will take place at the YMCA Sports Centre at Trowse near Norwich and will run from 7pm on Saturday March 1 to 7am on Sunday March 2
All money raised from this event will go towards the work of YMCA Norfolk including the supported accommodation it provides for over 260 people every night who might otherwise be homeless
Pictured above is the Insight Financial Associates team taking part in last year’s YMCA Norfolk Sleep Easy challenge
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