By Máiréad Moriarty
A GROUP of 15 young people, together with six adults, will sleep outdoors overnight in the village of Castlegregory in aid of the Simon Community homeless charity.
The ‘sleep out’, planned for Saturday, December 14, is organised by the Castlegregory Parish Youth Council and will take place in front of the Meánscoil Nua in the village.
The Castlegregory Parish Youth Council was set up in April 2011 and consists of 16 teenager volunteers who are passionate about helping local and national charities. They aim to contribute to their local parish in a meaningful way.
The teenagers undertake various voluntary projects and so far they have raised €5,600 for a number of charities such as Barnardos, Crumlin Children’s Hospital, Temple Street Children’s Hospital and the local Kerry branch of the St Vincent de Paul.
They have organised bake sales and coffee mornings over the past number of years. They regularly hold breakfast mornings which prove very popular and the next one takes place at the end of December.
Their latest project is a ‘sleepout’, an idea dreamt up by founding member and Chairperson Catriona Browne, featured in the video below.
The teenagers wanted to come up with an innovative idea and to make the fundraising event as different as possible. In fact, Bernie Dowling, one of the voluntary adult leaders, tells me that this event is the first of its kind in Ireland so it may even become a new trend nationwide.
From 8pm to 8am, the teenagers, mostly ranging in ages from 18 to 20, together with their leaders, will sleep rough outside the gates of the secondary school in Castlegregory.
The members are excited about the challenge and are eager to experience what it is like to be exposed to the elements overnight. They aim to raise awareness about homelessness throughout Kerry and Cork.
The money raised will be donated to the Simon Community in Cork who cater for about 1000 people annually who find themselves homeless for one reason or another.
The Castlegregory teenagers will be raising money with sponsorship cards, also available in the shops throughout the village.
Donations also welcome on the night.
If anyone would like to get in touch with the group, or contribute, they can be contacted through their Facebook page Castlegregory Parish Youth Council (click here).
Check out the video below to hear a little bit more from the girls and boys involved.
