The World’s Big Sleep Out in Front Square
Posted on: 17 September 2019
On Saturday 7th December, the world will unite to help fight homelessness with what is thought to be the largest charitable fundraising campaign in a generation. With an aim of raising $50,000,000, The World’s Big Sleep Out, spearheaded by Josh Littlejohn MBE, founder of social enterprise Social Bite, will take place in up to 50 locations around the world with a sleep out taking place at Trinity College Dublin.
Two thousand people will take to their sleeping bags in Trinity’s Front Square on December 7th next, to raise funds for the worthwhile initiative. Launching the event were: David Carroll, Chief Executive of Depaul with Dr Patrick Prendergast, Trinity’s Provost; Veronica Campbell, College Bursar; Professor Luke O’Neill and Laura Beston, SU President along with the Gaelic Players Association who are all championing the event.
Dr Patrick Prendergast said:“We are delighted to be hosting the World’s Big Sleep Out here in Trinity in December in an effort to focus attention on the problem of homelessness, not just in Ireland but worldwide. Our students and College community will join forces with people across the world to fight global homelessness.”
Research by the Institute of Global Homelessness shows that figures have reached a new level with more than a 100 million people homeless and displaced around the world. Depaul Ireland, the cross-border charity working in the area of homelessness and homeless prevention, has seen the number of homeless families in Ireland increased by 178% since June 2015 and child homelessness currently is almost 4,000.
Today, each of the city locations are confirmed along with a host of celebrities, musicians, Olympians, acting royalty, top broadcasters and influential politicians who will take part in sleep out events on the night, as part of an overall target number of 50,000 people, creating the world’s largest display of solidarity to those experiencing homelessness and displacement.
Will Smith and Dame Helen Mirren will lead the way by telling a bedtime story in Times Square (New York) and Trafalgar Square (London) respectively. On Saturday 7th December, they will be joined by celebrities from around the globe and by members of the Gaelic Players Association who will stand together and sleep out in Trinity College Dublin.
There will also be stripped back, live acoustic music performances throughout the world with the line-up announced over the coming months.
The Board of The World’s Big Sleep Out Trust is chaired by world-renowned homelessness expert Dame Louise Casey DBE CB.
Cities and towns confirmed to be taking part include: London (Trafalgar Square and The Oval), New York (Times Square), Edinburgh, Dublin, Belfast, Chicago, Cardiff, Newcastle, Newport, Brighton, Manchester, Los Angeles, New Delhi, Vina Del Mar, Madrid, Rijeka, Kharkiv, Brisbane, Manila, Cebu, Amsterdam, Patna, Gaya, Muzaffarpur, Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Visakhapatnam, Guntur, Chennai, Coimbatore, Mumbai, Hong Kong, Philadelphia, San Jose (Costa Rica), Malibu and Singapore
People are urged to register for an official event or sign up to “Host Your Own” sleep out in their backyard, office car park, high school or university campus by visiting www.bigsleepout.com.
Registration is now open with each participant committing to fundraising as much as they can. 100% of funds raised will go towards homelessness charities, with a 50/50 split between local and global charities helping homeless and displaced people.
It is hoped that an estimated 50,000 participants will collectively achieve a fundraising target of $50,000,000 which will be invested to sustainably help around 1,000,000 homeless and displaced people all over the world. As well as benefiting local charities, international partners for the campaign include UNICEF USA, Malala Fund and the Institute of Global Homelessness.
As well as private individuals, the campaign has been backed by some of the world’s largest companies and charitable foundations. So far, organisations supporting the campaign include Facebook, eBay, Nasdaq, Weightwatchers, Bloomberg, WPP, Clifford Chance and Microsoft. Oak Foundation has also pledged $1million to the campaign.
This global event follows on from the success of Social Bite’s Sleep in the Park events in 2017 and 2018, which were held in Edinburgh, Dundee, Glasgow and Aberdeen. The mass fundraisers saw around 18,000 people give up their beds over the last two years, raising a total of almost £8 million. A new charity called The World’s Big Sleep Out Trust has been established to govern the funds raised from this global event, whilst funds raised in the USA will be managed by UNICEF USA with the support of Robin Hood Foundation.
Josh Littlejohn MBE, Social Bite and WBSO Founder, said: “I am blown away by the response to The World’s Big Sleep Out so far and incredibly excited to have 50 cities all over the world taking part. It doesn’t matter if you are taking part in Times Square or in your back garden with your family, by sleeping out for one night on 7th December we can simultaneously express our compassion for homeless people who have no other choice and raise lifesaving funds to make a difference. We can also send a message to the world’s political leaders that urgent action is required to address the human suffering that we each witness on our streets every day”.
David Carroll, Chief Executive of Depaul said: “Depaul is privileged to be the partner of the The Big Sleep Out in Belfast and Dublin. We would encourage people from across Ireland to sign up and join us in bringing the world’s attention to the growing issue of homelessness. We are delighted to work with Trinity College Dublin who have afforded us the venue for Ireland’s sleep out and is encouraging students to participate and with the Gaelic Players Association many of whose members have already pledged to sign up and join us on the 7th December. In coming weeks we will provide more information on who will join us.”
