Help The Foxton Centre raise £50,000 to buy a house in Preston and sign up to the Big PNE Sleepout!
On Friday 15th November, Preston North End will play host to an event with a difference with a sponsored stadium sleepout with the goal to raise enough money for The Foxton Centre to buy a house for rough sleepers in the city.
It all coincides with The Foxton Centre's 50th anniversary as Prestonians, businesses and PNE fans are encouraged to get in their sleeping bag for the night and bed down at Deepdale to raise the funds needed.
The event will give you an insight into what it’s like to be a rough sleeper in Preston with just a piece of cardboard for comfort for the night whilst raising vital funds for the charity's housing scheme which helps to give the city's homeless somewhere safe and secure to live.
The event is backed by PNE's Louis Moult who spoke passionately on the subject as part of the EFL Day of Action last month.
Louis said: “It is a huge event in terms of raising money and raising awareness. The Foxton Centre want to raise £50,000 to buy a house which can be a shelter for people who need it.
“I have seen first hand the brilliant work that The Foxton Centre is doing in the community, so hopefully we can get as many people involved as possible with us on the night, raising as much money as possible for a very important cause in the Preston community.
“Raising awareness of the issues of homelessness and drug and alcohol addiction is something I’m very passionate about. To anyone who is going through these situations, I’d say ‘pick up the phone,’ go to somewhere like The Foxton Centre. They really can help with alcohol, drugs and homelessness.
“Come and speak to the volunteers and the workers here. You’re not alone.”
Chief executive of the Foxton Centre Jeff Marsh said: “The Housing First approach was first developed in New York by the Pathways to Housing organisation in 1992. It has since been widely adopted in the USA and become central to the national homelessness strategies in Canada, Denmark, Finland and France, with widespread success.
“The Foxton Centre was one of the first organisations to adopt the approach in the UK in 2015.
“Housing First uses stable housing as a platform to enable individuals with multiple and complex needs to begin recovery and move away from homelessness.
“We hope the sleep out will raise enough money to allow us to buy a run down property, refurbish it and use to enable people to move off the streets. Whilst refurbishing it we will be able to offer training and volunteering opportunities for people.”
Head of Community at the Trust Andy Haythornthwaite said: “We are proud to be able to support the issue of homelessness in Preston. People sleeping rough has been on the increase for some years now and it is important to raise awareness and do what we can to collectively help improve the lives of many people.
“By making the stadium available, we can offer members of the community and the excellent football family we have here at Preston to come and experience a night as a rough sleeper. In doing so, you will be raising significant awareness of the issue and hopefully some vital fund raising to help the Foxton Centre reach their £50k goal.
“We are encouraging all PNE fans to take up the challenge and to once more fill the Kop the evening.”
Donating cardboard for the event and putting forward a group of employees to sleep out will be official sleepout partner, Biffa.
The sleepout is available for individuals, small businesses and large companies to take part in.
Those taking part are then encouraged to raise sponsorship for undertaking the sleepout.
To register your interest in taking part then please visit the PNE Big Sleepout page on the Foxton Centre website.
If you don’t fancy sleeping out at Deepdale but want to support the event you can make a donation at The Big Sleep Out appeal page.