This year Team Touchstone will be spending one whole night sleeping out on the streets of Leeds to raise money for the charity ‘Simon on the Streets’ as well as awareness of the issues of homelessness, mental health, and the vulnerable members of our community who are falling victim to the ongoing housing crisis in the UK.

Who Are Simon On The Streets?

‘Simon on the Streets’ are a fantastic charity that manage to change the lives of people living homeless and/or rootless throughout Leeds entirely through their outreach work. The money raised through the sleep out will help them to continue support people through:

  • Weekly Soup Runs – This is used as an aid to reach people, inform them of the service and refer them onto Emergency Accommodation that night if required.
  • Emotional Support – Workers will provide a supportive relationship to clients and often become a point of contact should anyone wish to be signposted to a particular service or access their intensive support programme…
  • Intensive Support Programme – Simon on the Streets provide this service for people who may wish to look at more specific issues and/or undergo motivational work to change their lives in a positive way.

Find out more at the following link: http://simononthestreets.co.uk/

So What Is ‘Sleeping with Simon’…?

‘Sleeping with Simon’ is an annual event held in aid of ‘Simon on the Streets’, which individuals and other charities can get involved in!
On Thursday 24th September, Team Touchstone will be taking up the challenge of sleeping rough for the night!
Each person will have a cardboard box, a sleeping bag and lot and lots of layers, and be spending the whole night out in the open air, listening to the experiences of the people Simon on the Streets have supported, networking with fellow charities about housing and support services and catching some sleep in-between this (or trying to…).
We have five willing volunteers on Team Touchstone: Georgia Hornby, Mark Neesom, Jennifer Mak, Julia Kinch, and of course myself!
Find out more at the following link: http://www.sleepwithsimon.co.uk/

How Can I Support The Cause?

Now that we have registered our participants for Team Touchstone, we need to collect donations and pledges! We are hoping to collect at least £500 to help the work of Simon on the Streets
It’s going to be a massive challenge for all involved but one that we’re excited to be a part of! It’d be absolutely fantastic if you could donate to our little team to help us raise money to support the vulnerable homeless!