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IGLOOS SLEEP UNDER THE STARS and BIG THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS
3 members of the IGLOOS team spent the night under the stars in Kingston last weekend raising money for the KWYMCA, who are in partnership with Kingston Churches Action on Homelessness.
The evening commenced at 6pm when the participants received a branded thermos and a cardboard box! Later on we were nourished with soup and hot chocolate which was a real treat under the circumstances.
To keep us busy and to provide our home for the evening there was a cardboard shelter competition with a lovely cottage produced by team IGLOOS – see photo of our residence! Sadly it didn’t get a look in with the prizes! The night was very cold and the temperature got down to -3, but luckily due to preparation and successful shelter building, the team were able to bed down for the night. Imagine having to do that every night.....
During the night the team were amongst fellow fundraisers such as hospital staff, church volunteers and residents of the YMCA. One current resident of the Kingston YMCA joined the team for a game of Connect4 and told us a bit about how he ended up being in the YMCA and how the organisation had helped him get back on the right track following alcoholism, losing his home and access to his children. There were also a number of homeless people sleeping in the same area as the team, these were 4/5 men, all with dogs, presumably for protection. That really brought it home.
One member of the team commented “The scary thing about the event was that, knowing it was only for one night was what kept me going, and then I thought, hang on these people have to do it every night and this wasn’t even the coldest it has been! Then everything suddenly became very clear!!!”
Everyone was up at 5.30am starting to pack up ready for the McDonalds breakfast that awaited them back at the church.
The night was a big success, with team IGLOOS raising nearly £700 so far thanks to help from clients, suppliers, family and friends. In total there were 140 people at the event raising over £15,000! Overall it was a great experience and gave us lots of motivation as a company to look closer at how we can do more for charity!
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