It’s quickly approaching that most wonderful time of the year again…no, nothing to do with Santa…it’s the annual GrowTH Sleep Out! 

For many years now, GrowTH have organised our major fundraising event of the year in the form of a Sleep Out – where supporters, volunteers, and staff brave the cold December temperatures and sleep under the stars for one night only, to raise money for the work of GrowTH in running our winter Night Shelter, homeless Day Centre, and Housing project. 

This year’s event is once more being wonderfully hosted London’s only floating Church – St Peter’s Barge, who are one of our partner churches, and who are spectacularly located on the West India Quay, just a stone’s throw from Canary Wharf. 

Please refer to the FAQs for a more in depth rundown of the timetable for the event, but participants will gather together at St Peter’s Barge, assemble their ‘bed’ for the night using pre-collected cardboard, share a simple meal together, and hear from some of our ex-Guests and Residents as they share their real-life experiences of homelessness. Then we will bed down for the night on the Quay, where hopefully some sleep will be had. In the morning we come back together to eat breakfast and reflect on our experiences overnight. The event is in no way supposed to simulate real homelessness, but it is incredibly profound hearing from those who were previously homeless, and helps those participating to gain some empathy for the day-to-day struggles of those who are homeless, and who GrowTH seek to support and accommodate. 

Last year event was a roaring success, with 28 participants in total, and raising a phenomenal £19,138 towards GrowTH’s vital work. We are partnering with the Big Give campaign again this year, which means that donations made between 3rd December – 10th December are DOUBLED! You can check out the link to our Big Give campaign, and donate via the link below (only able to donate between those dates above)

If you would like to participate in this year’s Sleep Out, please visit the link below, and sign up. Once you have registered, there is information about how to go about getting sponsored and raising supporters for your sleep out effort. Click below if you, or a group of you and your friends are interested.

We also have an FAQ page which will hopefully answer any questions that you have about the event. But if you have any further questions or queries, please contact office@thisisgrowth.org.

Please see below some quotes and reflections of those who have participated in years gone by.