Rough sleeping has risen by more than 20% in the UK’s most affected locations, including Brighton & Hove, in the last year.

That means help for homeless people is needed more than ever right now. The cost-of-living crisis is pushing more and more people into homelessness, with rising prices forcing people who have never slept rough before onto the streets for the first time. The ultimate impact is expressed through the tragic statistic that the number of unattended deaths on our City’s streets rose from 31 to 43 in 2022-3. Most of these were anonymous and unclaimed. The shocking average age of death for rough sleepers is 47 for men and 43 for women.

If you find this as disturbing as we do, then please join us at Off The Fence’s annual sleep-out outside St Peter’s Church on Friday November 10th from 6pm, when we’ll be sleeping out for one night in a busy part of central Brighton to raise money to address this crisis in our midst. The money you raise will help to fund our Antifreeze Homeless outreach across our City to give people the support they need to get off the streets for good.

It’s not the reality of being homeless of course, but it is a simple act of solidarity and a tangible way in which you can get to make a real difference (and make new friends).