‘We hope we have done enough to help make someone’s life easier during the cold winter months’

Rory McCormack - TY Student, St Pat's Navan

For many, winter time means getting ready for Christmas. It means we have to start thinking about the presents that have to be bought for our loved ones. It means long nights beside the fire and hoping that it snows for once. However, we sometimes forget that winter has a different meaning for those affected by a massive ongoing crisis - homelessness.

It means long nights on hard ground, so cold the ground is covered in frost by morning.

There are, however, many non-profit organisations that are doing tremendous work to give aid to those with no place to call home. One of these is Focus Ireland. Focus Ireland ensures that people experiencing homelessness get not only relief and support, but also the respect they deserve. So, to help Focus Ireland with their relentless efforts, our St Pat’s Transition Year Class ran a sleepout fundraiser.

The sleepout was certainly the culmination of all the tremendous work done by our TY class, TY coordinator and teachers to support Focus Ireland.

For this reason, it was organised to give us the most realistic insight into homelessness that we could possibly have. The day picked was a Tuesday, meaning that the next day, we would have to go straight back into school, no matter how much sleep we got. The date was set for December 6th, so it would undoubtedly be extremely cold.

Blankets

When the day of the sleepout came around, we went through our school day hoping it would not be too cold that night. After school ended, we had a couple of hours to pack for the night. We brought sleeping bags, blankets, coats and anything else that would keep us warm as well as gear for a soccer tournament, which we started at eight o’clock. We had a great time in the freezing cold, especially watching the international standard of playing from the teachers’ team.

After the tournament, we got changed and all piled into the canteen for warm soup and a roll, courtesy of John and Rosita Moyles, again typical of the generosity shown throughout our journey.

At around half eleven, it was time to take our sleeping bags, blankets, bin bags, pillows and anything else we planned to sleep on, out to an area of the school which is outside but is also covered by a roof, to give us cover from any potential rain.

A large amount of cardboard had been gathered for us to sleep on, so we took our pick and set out a spot for each of us. To our surprise, it was not so much the cold which kept us up for the first few hours, but the discomfort of sleeping on hard ground. However, at around five o’clock in the morning, a breeze started to pick up and the cold really set in. Many of us did not get a second’s worth of sleep from then until seven o’clock. Waking up that morning and getting changed straight away into school uniform, eating breakfast and being back in class again was a strange experience. We were all very tired from the lack of sleep the night before and found it almost impossible to stay awake and concentrate on any schoolwork for the rest of the day.

The sleepout was a great success, raising in excess of €23,000 so far. It has definitely been one of the things we as a group are most proud of in our Transition Year. We are happy to say that all the money raised is being ring-fenced for Focus Ireland’s efforts in Meath and we all hope that we have done enough to help make someone’s life easier during the cold winter months.

When our TY coordinator, Mr. Murphy, put the idea to us, we all took to it with massive enthusiasm. We set up donation pages online and began to send out the link wherever we could. Immediately we started to see that people’s generosity can be overwhelming. We received a talk on the work Focus Ireland does and the stories of people they have helped, which put into perspective what we could do for people experiencing homelessness.

To get the word out about the sleepout, we produced a promotional video, with a small team of TY students editing and filming. The video was a huge success. We shared it on social media and word got around. The support we received from people increased over the next few weeks. Soon we had surpassed our original target of €15,000 and the donations did not stop there.

Every single TY student went above and beyond to raise funds for this worthy cause and it showed in the huge climb in the amount raised in the weeks leading up to the sleepout.

It seemed as though the amount never stopped rising.

‘The chatter diminished, a cold and uncomfortable night lay ahead’

James Connell - TY Student, St Pat's Navan

The teachers and students of Transition Year in St Pat’s Navan set out to make a contribution to ease the homelessness crisis by experiencing the hardship of sleeping rough themselves.

We organised a ‘Sleep Out’ where students and teachers faced the elements and spent a night, sleeping rough, in the school car park.

We had been checking the weather every night to see if the forecast would show a ray of clemency. In the end, unfortunately, the cold prevailed.

We arrived at school as normal on the Tuesday of the sleep out, having savoured every minute of sleep in our warm beds the previous night.

During the day we were instructed to wear plenty of layers as the average temperature was predicted to be -1℃. At the school day’s end, we returned home to make sure we were well equipped for what was to come. At around 19:30, we got kitted out for a soccer tournament on the all-weather pitch which was already covered in a light frost which sparkled under the flood lights.

The running around worked well at assuaging the bitter cold and the final match between the teachers and the students made for an enthralling end. Despite the efforts of the teachers and a Messi-grade free kick from Mr Murphy that curled into the top-right corner, they were no match for the triumphant students who took it home after a thrilling penalty shoot-out.

After that, we congregated in the canteen and indulged in some warm soup. After getting changed into the clothes in which we would sleep overnight, we were given some final instructions from Mr Murphy, the TY coordinator and Mr Donnelly, the school chaplain who said that we should set up our sleeping spots in the carpark.

Aside from our sleeping bags, we had only a thin sheet of cardboard to separate us from the tarmac. To ensure the tone of the sleepout was kept in accordance with its purpose, phones and junk food were not permitted.

After the chatter amidst our camp diminished, a cold and uncomfortable night lay ahead. Our sleep was light and sporadic, if at all. We woke numerous times during the night to the frigid air and hard surface beneath. These conditions were reflected in the groggy and tired faces of the morning. We could have a tepid shower, but that did not dispel the fatigue.

The ensuing school day was more laborious than usual and it was harder to concentrate. Many were absent on Thursday, which shows how tough it would be to sleep rough for consecutive nights. The experience certainly instilled in us a reinforced sense of compassion for the many homeless people in society today.

This event would allow us to raise a considerable amount of money for our charity, Focus Ireland,

Homelessness is a pervasive issue in our country today. With currently over 11,000 people experiencing homelessness in Ireland, there is a strain on charities that help to mitigate the effects of homelessness on those afflicted.

Our road to achieving our €15,000 target had got off to a flying start through the creation of a promotional video. A group of TY students led the production of a short film and managed to put together a cogent story which highlighted some of the difficulties of being a student experiencing homelessness.

It was quickly shared around social media including a post from Focus Ireland. In addition, the donation link was widely circulated online by the students and we received enormous support from many generous people.

By 6th December, the night of the sleep out, we had already far surpassed our original fundraising target.

At the time of writing, we have raised a colossal €23,500 for Focus Ireland. This is an amazing achievement for a TY group of 60 students and it continues to grow with the donation page remaining open until 31st January.

It is great to be able to make such a difference in helping the people who need it most and we are very proud to be part of a truly outstanding effort. This was a memorable experience for all who took part and is likely to be with us forever.