Delighted that our group has grown with a member of Christ Church New Greens joining us for the 2024 Sleep Out too.

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The first time we did the Sleep Out, it was me and my 7 and 8 year old boys, a couple of sleeping bags, yoga mats and their school’s toy donkey that the boys had to look after for the weekend and give an adventure. Donkey slept under the stars outside St Albans Abbey and listened to the bells every 15 minutes and heard the drunk revellers stumbling home throughout the night.

Admittedly, we had more kit than most people who sleep on the street. However, there is a fine line between experiencing the unhealthy reality of sleeping rough and putting yourself at risk of child neglect.

That was 2013 and now we approach our 11th St Albans Sleep Out. And I can’t say I am looking forward to it, because it is a dreadful experience; and yes, that’s the point. Personally, I do not sleep. I am cold, uncomfortable, and aware of how vulnerable we are as a family, to the elements. I feel my chest tightening, I take several puffs on my ventolin and I pray for 6am to come.

So, will you sponsor us? Why Emmaus?

If you have time, please read this true story of how Emmaus helped a friend of mine.

I met my friend, Terry, during the Christmas of 2008 when he was a guest of "LifeShare", Manchester and I was a volunteer. Like many of the guests my friend had been made homeless after difficult personal circumstances and now slept rough.

At night, if he was in the right place at the right time he might find a shelter - on camp beds in a draughty, noisy hall with many other homeless men and women. Only three months before he had been working as a chef in Stockport and living at home with his wife. When his marriage fell apart the stress meant that he soon lost his job in the restaurant.

My friend and I had a few things in common. Recent marriage breakdowns, financial difficulties and a life turned on its head. We both had had to face our worst fears. The reality was that there was not much separating us.

Two years after we met I was now living in St Albans. Terry called me to say he was sleeping rough at Marble Arch. It was the winter of 2010 and bitterly cold. I meet him for a coffee. The nightly chill on his kidneys was clearly making him very unwell.

At the end of our conversation I was free to head back to St Albans and my home and central heating and a fridge full of food. He was heading back to an ice block of a paving slab, if his space had not been pinched. I prayed for a solution.

At home I called Emmaus St Albans. They told me that there was no chance of a space for Terry, they were full; ‘Full? Really?’ Totally full?’ I asked. ‘Well, we have one room but we are saving that room for someone who can run our kitchen.’

The next day Terry, a chef by trade and training, left the cold, concrete pavements of Marble Arch and moved into a warm room at Emmaus St Albans, with a fresh start, a new purpose, and a reason to get up in the morning. Emmaus was a place for his body and mind to heal.

Please support us to raise funds for Emmaus.