Unite for the Night: Sleep Out to end homelessness

Sleep Out is our biggest fundraising event of the year, taking place at Duke of York Square in Chelsea. At Sleep Out, participants give up their beds for one night to reflect on our guests’ experiences of homelessness.

While this doesn’t replicate the challenges of rough sleeping, it aims to raise awareness about the difficult conditions that thousands of people experiencing homelessness in London endure on any given night.

We ask you to aim for a fundraising target of £250. If you raise even more, that’s fantastic! Don’t worry if that seems a little daunting, the Fundraising Team are here to give you tips and support throughout.

Why should you take part in Sleep Out?

This year marks 25 years of Glass Door Homeless Charity providing services to people experiencing and at risk of homelessness in London.

While we are proud of our impact as a small but mighty organisation rooted in community, we won’t call this a celebration—because, let’s face it, we shouldn’t have to be here.

According to the latest London figures, between October and December 2024, 4,612 people were counted sleeping rough – a 5% increase from last year. Alarmingly, almost half were sleeping rough for the first time.

If more people are continuously being pushed into homelessness, it means the problem isn’t just persisting – it’s worsening.

By raising funds for Glass Door Homeless Charity, you can help someone build a route out of homelessness by providing them with shelter and support from our expert caseworkers, and the opportunity to either prevent homelessness or permanently leave the streets behind.

Who is Glass Door Homeless Charity?

Based in London, we coordinate the UK's largest network of open-access services for people affected by homelessness – this means that anyone experiencing or at risk of homelessness can turn to us regardless of who they are or where they are from.

Year-round, people find advice and support to find a permanent home through trained caseworkers based at partnering drop-in centres. During the hard months of winter, we also provide emergency winter shelter where up to 105 guests each night can find a safe place to sleep and a hot evening meal and nutritious breakfast.

This winter, we provided shelter to 570 guests in our emergency night shelters, 126 of whom have already found more permanent housing as a result of our support. Read more on the impact of our 2024/25 winter night shelter season here.

Our vision is a future where no one experiences homelessness in London, thank you for helping us achieve this. We look forward to seeing you at the Sleep Out.

More details about Glass Door can be found at our website, or social media accounts: Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn.