‘The Big Cambridge Calais Sleepout’ is being hosted on Saturday 26th January in hopes of topping last years £11,000 raised to support homeless charities in both Cambridge and Northern France.

This Saturday, local charities – Cambridge Convoy Refugee Action Group (CamCRAG) and The Whitworth Trust – are hosting a sleepout and winter fair at St. Giles Church on Castle Street. The event is set to start at 1:30pm this week, with a Winter Fair open to all, offering “soup, ponchos, and other gifts for sale",  appearances by speakers and stalls from local charities and organisations. Later on, those who are brave enough to face the cold – with temperatures set to be as low as six degrees – will be given an evening meal and breakfast, with stewards supervising throughout the night. There will be an option to sleep either inside or outside the church, with those opting to sleep outside prompted to rent an ‘SOS’ tent for £5, specifically designed by CamCRAG for the use of those displaced in France.

The money raised by the sponsored sleepers will be split between the two host charities. CamCRAG was established in 2016 and coordinates sending convoys of volunteers and aid from Cambridge to help refugees in Northern France. Typically, convoys sent to Calais leave on Friday evenings and are back the following Sunday, with volunteers helping to work in the warehouse supporting more permanent staff by organising donations and preparing food.

The Whitworth Trust, established in 1988, supports vulnerable, homeless young women who live at the Whitworth House hostel in Cambridge, which supports up to 15 residents at a time. Donations to the Whitworth trust go towards the holistic care of residents, from providing work clothes and vocational training, to helping pay legal fees.

The chair of CamCRAG, Elliot Harris, told the Cambridge Independent that “the Big Sleep Out offers local supporters a real opportunity to do something practical and to direct their donations to help those who are homeless both in Cambridge and Calais”. Last year the event raised an £11,000, with the money going to Wintercomfort, a Cambridge day centre that supports homeless people in Cambridge.

In the past few years, there has been a notable rise in student involvement in the work of charities helping those in our community who many not have stable living conditions. Student charities include Cambridge Homeless Outreach Programme (CHOP) that provides fundraising and outreach opportunities for Cambridge students, as well as hosting events to help raise awareness, and Streetbite, a group of students who take provisions and conversation to those on the streets on a daily basis during term time.

Commenting on the planned sleepout this week, Stephen Cole, President of CHOP, told Varsity: “I think it’s incredible that people are volunteering to sleep outdoors on a cold January night to raise money for two amazing causes, and I would encourage everyone to sponsor the team if they can.

“It’s a show of solidarity with people sleeping rough both in Cambridge and in Calais. We mustn’t forget that there are many people sleeping outdoors in these conditions every night, out of necessity rather than choice, and this sleepout raises awareness of this as well as raising money to support refugees in Calais and homeless women in Cambridge.”