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Last year, with only 12hrs notice I joined the #ABPSouthampton #SleepOut event in Guildhall square. But because I suffer with a type of Arthritis called Ankylosing Spondylitis, I can't take part in events like marathons, trekking across Morocco et cetera, but I can sleep out. For me, this hurts as much as a marathon.  My joints cannot take the cold, they cannot take the hard surfaces. But it's a challenge and experience that I feel more should do to understand the difficulties facing some people locally, nationally

Because I am a mariner, I have warm clothes and clothes to keep me dry. Homeless, rough sleepers aren't so fortunate. This was the first time I had taken part in an event like this. On the way to the event, after a 12hr shift at work, I saw many, many rough sleepers. I had never really opened my eyes to the problem until then. I stopped and bought 2 cups of coffee, and stopped to speak to one guy to find out how he came to be on the streets.  Over the coffee, sat on the footpath, I discovered he was ex-military who after finishing,  came home and his relationship failed due to PTSD. Something that he still suffered with.

My night, my one night, even though Society of Saint James had organised support in the way of security to keep night revellers away, (of which were many) and an ambulance, (which ended up being used by the drunk student revellers) was an eye opener. By the end of the night, even though I was in warm, dry clothing and a waterproof sleeping bag, I hurt. My hips and back were on fire with the pain from sleeping on the floor. I'd used ear plugs, so I didn't hear the drunks, although a couple did investigate this bundle underneath a big Society of Saint James Jiggy Bag style sleeping bag, I'd used to shield me from the rain.

So this year, I'm planning, promoting and asking you all to support or join me. Either donate on this page, donate old clothes to me for a clothes bank or come and #SleepOut with me.

On the 12th November I will be joining other to highlight the difficulties that people face. So please help me, help others. This way we can help more homeless people than we can by just giving a couple of cups of coffee. But please do find the time to chat to a homeless person. They're human too. 

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