Brave locals raise thousands at Medway MHS Homes Charity Sleepout

Ninety two brave souls slept in cardboard boxes outside the MHS Homes offices in Chatham Dockside last night, helping raise around £11,000 for the Emmaus homeless charity and the Alzheimer's Society.

On a bitterly cold, damp and misty night - especially down there on the river front - each and every one of those sponsored certainly earned their money for the cause. Jay Aston, who enjoyed pop success with Bucks Fizz in the 1980s, was amongst supporters of this fantastic event and called the contribution a "remarkable effort" as sleepers lived in their cardboard homes from 9pm till 6am this morning.

Among those staying overnight to show solidarity and highlight the plight of homeless people was Medway Cllr. Chris Irvine, who said: "It's a fantastic way of highlighting homelessness; it can affect anyone at any time and I'd like to pay tribute to MHS Homes, Crisis, Hub 243 and all those who work tirelessly to help others in that situation."

Although "civilisation" was only a few metres away, in the form of a hot food and drinks station (and cakes!) Maggie and Richard from Kelly House sheltered accommodation were shunning those comforts and had only a bottle of water with them, in order to find out how it really feels to be living on the street, with no access to a good meal when needed. The provision of portaloos too, offered another facility we all take for granted which simply isn't available to homeless people. 

In a week of more negative feedback regarding part state-owned bank, RBS, fifteen members of their Nat West Customer Services team in Chatham were glad to be able to give something back. Spokeswoman Stacey Foyster said: "As part of our Customer Charter, we are proud to support our local charities and will be raising over £1000. The bank will match what we make; this along with our Community Cashback schemes, means thousands more will be donated to local communities and charities."

Mayor Ted Baker was on hand to witness the turnout and handed out awards for the most imaginative box designs, of which there were many - see the gallery here to appreciate the efforts!