On 8 October over 300 people gathered in the Duke of York Square to take part in the annual Glass Door sleep out. From 9.30pm onwards people gathered to register and claim their spots for the night. Taking part this year were 22 local churches as well as a group of seminarians from Allen Hall. Representatives from CSAN and Caritas Westminster also took part as well as other local charities and community groups.
Martha Behan from Caritas Westminster live tweeted the experience and shared her thoughts on taking part for the first time:
‘I think the work Glass Door is incredible. To utilise the resources already in parishes to support homeless people is an excellent example of Catholic social teaching. One of the most striking things for me was not the amount of people they feed but that they offer far more that. Many of the homeless people I spoke to told me how the Glass Door night shelters offered a sense of community. I saw homeless people on the night greeted with friendship and warmth by parish communities. This friendliness has shown me the importance of Glass Door more than any statistics. It was nice to see how many people came over and asked what we were doing. It gave people a chance to share the work that Glass Door does and explain how they can help.’
Altogether the Sleep Out raised £150,000, which will allow them to open three shelters a night from 7 November to 9 April, meaning 85 people a night can stay in a Glass Door night shelter.
Photo: Franc Vissers
