Sunderland shopping centre boss to sleep in car park
John Green, Retail Liaison Manager for the Bridges with Leesa Lee from Sunderland YMCA and Kim Jackson from the Bridges management team on the roof top car park where they will be holding a charity sleep out this weekend.
SHOPPING centre bosses will sleep under the stars to raise money for homeless youngsters.
A team from The Bridges will camp out on the top floor of the centre’s car park to raise money for Sunderland’s YMCA.
They will be joined by workers from YMCAs in Toward Road and Chester-le-Street, along with dedicated volunteers.
The event, on March 2, is part of national campaign Sleep Easy.
It is the second time Sunderland has taken part in the fund-raiser, which has been running for four years.
YMCA worker Leesa Lee helped organise the event in Sunderland, which last year raised £1,500.
The charity’s development manager said: “We have a decorate the box competition, as some people sleep in boxes.
“Other people sleep in sleeping bags and some have pop-up tents.
“Participants usually get sponsored and can register with Sunderland YMCA.
“They don’t even have to register as long as they get in touch with me before hand.”
She added: “It is to help raise awareness of the work the YMCA does, which includes support and education of homeless young people.”
Sleep Easy aims to raise money for YMCA centres, which only receive Government funding for accommodation.
Leesa believes youth homelessness is a hidden issue.
She said: “It’s a unseen problem because people are sofa surfing or sleeping on friends’ floors.
“They are not homeless in the traditional view as in people sleeping on the street, though there are a few.”
She added: “Generally people see homeless young people are tramps and smelling of alcohol, and that is not the case.
“We house 84 people in Sunderland – 28 in floating accommodation, shared housing in the community, 32 in Chester-le-Street and 24 in Toward Road.”
Email to a friend
Print this page- Boss Di Canio wants six new men for Sunderland
- Bus crashes into Sunderland JobCentre
- Pool pervert used shoe mirror to spy on woman changing in Sunderland Aquatic Centre
- Survival assured, Sunderland boss can plan future
- ‘You can’t live a lie and spend your life feeling sad’ – transgender modelling competition finalist tells all
- DOBSON MARKS START OF HEALTH C
- Di Canio: Sunderland players will get a shorter summer break if they don’t perform well at Tottenham
- Last post is 6.30pm (but get here by 5.30pm)
- TV chef Martin Blunos takes over the kitchen at Seaham Hall
- ‘You can’t live a lie and spend your life feeling sad’ – transgender modelling competition finalist tells all
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Sunderland
Sunday 19 May 2013
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 9 C to 15 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: North
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 9 C to 17 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: North
