If you were drinking in town on the 29th July, you may have been wondering why there was suddenly a huge group of people sleeping in the Octagon. No they weren’t drunk students or the homeless community, but if you’d said the latter, you would’ve been close.
In fact, 150 people had selflessly chosen to sleep outside in Dunedin’s bitterly cold nighttime temperatures in order to raise awareness and money for those who don’t always have a choice in whether they sleep outside or not.
Sze-En Lau, University Volunteer Centre Co-ordinator, said this event is much more than just one evening. It “brings together people who want to help address homelessness and poverty in our community through supporting the Dunedin Night Shelter.”
Last year, an astonishing $12,000 was raised for the Dunedin Homeless Shelter. For this year, although calculations are still being made, the registration fees, fundraising through merchandise and donations are likely to be around $6,000 when this is all done.
There was less urgency in terms of raising the money in comparison to last year, although that was because the money needed to save the Dunedin Night Shelter premises prompted people into action. This year the focus was on “keeping the awareness levels high for what the Dunedin Night Shelter does and wider issues around homelessness and poverty in New Zealand. With all the local and national media attention we received this year, I think we hit that ball out of the park.”
As with previous years, the weather held out and Sze-En was grateful for all the hard work, support, and donations they received, saying: “you may have been freezing on the night but thank you for your warm hearts and solidarity.”