Steve Brine joined hundreds of residents last night for The Big Sleep Out to raise funds for local homeless charities.
Around 400 local people took part in the BIG SLEEP OUT last night (Friday May 14 2009).
The event, held in and around Winchester Cathedral was designed to raise money and awareness for the work of Winchester Churches Nightshelter, Trinity Winchester and Emmaus Hampshire.
Residents taking part were be joined by a large team of activists, councillors and students from the University, led by Prospective Winchester MP Steve Brine. Other ‘sleepers’ included the Bishop and Mayor of Winchester, local broadcasters and many other local politicians including City Councillor Ian Tait.
The Army were on hand to keep everyone fed via their giant BBQ and Brasserie Blanc brewed a special vegetable Sleep Out soup. Entertainment was provided by the Chesil Street Theatre among others.
The event had been planned to take place exclusively outside the Cathedral but a less than favourable weather forecast saw the speeches, entertainment and some sleepers take refuge inside the cathedral itself.
Steve Brine, pictured above with some of his Sleep Out team; “The issue of homelessness is one very close to my heart and something I want to pursue if I am elected to Parliament. David Cameron has made it quite clear he wishes to tackle the problem if he becomes Prime Minister and I will be right behind him.
"As a local person I am obviously very aware of the Nighshelter based in Jewry Street (behind the Discovery Centre) and the brilliant Trinity Centre so it was a no-brainer when they asked me to take part in the Big Sleep Out. I am also very excited to see Emmaus take shape over coming months. It was a shame the weather wasn’t kind to us but the spirit wasn’t dampened and the important thing is we all raised some serious cash for the charities."
More information and links …
WATCH - You can see Steve Brine’s short-film from Wednesday April 22 at the publicity photo-call here via his dedicated You Tube TV Channel. A film made on the night will be available here shortly.
DONATE - You can still donate to Steve’s team via their Just Giving page. At 9am on Saturday morning (May 15) Steve’s team had raised just shy of £450 (including cheques received offline)!
MORE - You can find out much more about this special event via www.bigsleepout.org