Saturday afternoon at 4.30 there was a mini-tornado when the trees were blowing horizontal and the heavens opened yet again to the accompaniment of thunder and lightning. Sunday at 10am it was tipping it down and continued for a few hours. In between there was Sleepeasy the YMCA's annual fundraising event which in Kingston supports KCAH (Kingston Churches Action on Homelessness), and YMCA London South West's own hostel provision as a first step into accommodation.
We committed ourselves to joining the sleep out event, Heather being persuaded when Michael from the church promised me £25 that he would double if she joined in. A week of widening the circle of contacts has seen us exceed our target of £500, topping £800 by Sunday afternoon with more almost certainly on the way.
Having kitted ourselves out with an exercise mat, sleeping bag and pillow, such as we would provide to guests in the Night Shelter when it takes place at our church we picked our spot among the tombstones of the Memorial Gardens where
we laid our ground sheet, and with the cardboard box supplied to each of us set about creating our shelter - no easy task in the still gusty wind of the mid-evening. Well over 100 people shared the experience, though not all seemed to have sleep as a priority! Though we heard the hour strike from the All Saints clock tower more times than we might have wished, we probably slept more than it seemed, and the first time we needed to get up was when it was time to be packing up and enjoying the bacon sandwich on offer, before the 7 minute walk home.
Getting in and out of our low shelter was challenging for people at our stage in life, and we emerged with assorted aches and pains. Plastic survival bags that we used with our sleeping bags may not have been the greatest idea as it was a dry night - we ended up lying in more condensation than we might have wished. From the perspective of the next night though - or indeed the previous one - both colder and wetter, the weather couldn't have been much kinder.
What you can't experience is what a homeless person goes through. Being able to return home at 6.30, grab a little more sleep, have a shower and begin to tell the story through pictures by email, on Facebook and Twitter is to belong in a different world. Then to go on to the privilege of conducting worship, leading the small congregation in thankfulness and in prayers for others at the start of Poverty and Homelessness Sunday. No genuine empathy perhaps, but a share in keeping the plight of so many from being forgotten.
And of course thank you to so many for sharing in sponsoring our participation.
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