Story
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">This will be the 17th event to raise awareness of what it is like to have nowhere to shelter and to be forced to “sleep out”, especially now that the weather has turned cold and the first frosts have begun. It raises large amounts of money for charities which support homeless people.</span></span></p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Three hundred and sixty people aged from around nine to over sixty-five, with 50% under 18, participated and in 2009, raising just under £45,200, bringing the total raised to £338,000. </span></span></span></p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The local charity Open Door</span></span><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> is open every day of the year, and offers a day-time drop-in centre. Open Door provides access to medical help, personal counselling, advice on drugs and alcohol addiction, and assistance in finding permanent accommodation. </span></span></span></p>
<p class="western" style="margin-right: -0.1cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Joan Bailey, Chairman of Open Door, commented: “This project </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">has been helping homeless people for 17 years now. Rough sleeping and homelessness continue to be important social issues, and our night shelter is full for most nights of the year. We work to help our service-users move on to more permanent accommodation and more settled lives – so we rely very heavily on the generosity of our supporters. </span></span><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We are extremely grateful to all those others who will be helping to raise money by participating in the Sleep Out. For further information visit our website </span></span></span><span style="color: #0000ff;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.opendoorstalbans-district.org/"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">www.opendoorstalbans-district.org</span></span></a></span></span><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">.”</span></span></span></p>