Chichester care home staff sleep rough for charity

Flo Dudley-Barritt and Heather Pearce, companionship team members at Colten Care’s Wellington Grange in Broyle Road, braved the overnight cold in support of the home’s nominated charity of the year, Stonepillow.

Together, the pair spent two hours building a makeshift shelter out of pieces of cardboard they gathered from family, friends and fellow staff.

Residents at the home watched from the warmth indoors as the construction came together and Flo and Heather did their best to bed down for the night.

Flo said: “Each year Stonepillow host a night in the grounds of Chichester Cathedral where you sleep rough in a cardboard box. It’s such a great way to raise money and we wanted to see how hard it would be for ourselves.

“We then thought it would be great if the residents at Wellington Grange could watch us build a shelter actually in the home’s garden so they could see the result with their own eyes, cheer us on as we got ready for the cold night ahead and make sure we didn’t sneak in for any home comforts!”

Flo and Heather built the corners, walls and roof in stages with lots of layers of cardboard to sleep on inside. They also fashioned a door and put up a string of fairy lights to make it a little more homely.

Flo added: “Once we had built our home for the night, one or two residents came for a moment to take it all in for themselves.

“We also had cheers from residents’ windows, lots of waves and people looking out from the dining room as they were eating their supper.

“Luckily there was no rain. We were quite sheltered in the garden and the only thing we really felt was the cold air.

“It was a rough night’s sleep, on the hard ground with only blankets and sleeping bags to keep us warm.

“We also had a curious fox stop by briefly, nosy as to what was inside.”

Heather said: “We woke up several times in the night. One of the first things that came to mind is how we couldn’t wait to get back into our own beds with the warmth and comfort around us and to be with our own things.

“The ground was hard and cold and the gaps in the cardboard made a cold draft come through.

“Had it been colder, raining or snowing we can only imagine how much tougher it would have been.

“It made us realise that we are so fortunate for everything we have, and how lucky we are to have fresh clean clothes and a roof over our heads.”

Resident Jane Mason said: “I was really impressed with the shelter the pair of them made and the fact they were prepared to experience for themselves a taste of what it can be like to be homeless.”

The sleepout and the recent dog show fundraiser at the home raised nearly £600 for Stonepillow.