Celebrities including Melanie C, Julie Adenuga and Mo Gilligan will be joining the inaugural Sleep Walk for Shelter from the UK’s leading housing and homelessness charity in a bid to raise money to support the 135 families across Britain who become homeless every day.
The 10-kilometre walk is a night-time fundraising walk open for all and will bring Londoners together on the evening of Wednesday 5 December from Liverpool Street, across central London to Waterloo.
Under pressure from those affected, as well as campaigners like Shelter, the government has begun to take action. But the numbers of people homeless or suffering from bad housing is still rising.
Sleep Walk for Shelter aims to further support the cause, uniting Londoners to brave the winter conditions and walk across the capital at night to take a stand against homelessness and raise much needed funds to fight the crisis.
Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, comments: “No one should have to wake up without a home on Christmas Day, or any day. It doesn’t have to be like this. Together, we can work towards a future where every child wakes up in a safe and secure home on Christmas morning.
“We’re really proud to help our supporters to see come together to brave the winter cold and raise money to help our vital work supporting homeless families this Christmas, and hope to see many people from across London join us on December 5th”.
Melanie C commented: “I’m thrilled to be supporting the first Sleep Walk for Shelter which will help support the hundreds of thousands of families at risk of becoming homeless this winter. We can make a real difference by taking part and I’m looking forward to joining Londoners as we take on the streets of London this December.”
Julie Adenuga added: “I can’t wait to see Londoners come together to Sleep Walk for Shelter. Shelter does amazing work to cut homelessness, and by signing up to the Sleep Walk you’ll be helping them to support the families who need it most.”
The inaugural Sleep Walk for Shelter is being trialled in London this year with a view to similar events taking place in major cities across the UK in 2019. Each participant is asked to raise at least £100. To sign up or for more information go to shelter.org.uk/sleepwalk or search #SleepWalk on social media.