Of course we at calfordseaden wanted to do our bit in supporting mhs homes in their sponsored sleep out to raise money for charity and awareness of the plight of homeless people, so what better way to do this than actually take part - which is exactly what two of our Partners, Michael Whatford and Paul Miller, did!

Kitted out with their cardboard boxes and plenty of warm clothing, Michael and Paul managed to persevere with the cold and made it through until morning - an extremely rough and cold experience which gave them an insight into how those who are homeless feel every winter night.

Should you wish to donate, go to www.justgiving.com/mhshomes2010

MHS' ACCOUNT OF THE NIGHT

The coldest winter for 30 years and temperatures of minus six degrees didn't put off 170 people who slept outside in cardboard boxes on Saturday 30 January to raise awareness of the plight of homeless people and money for charity.

The sponsored sleep was organised by housing association mhs homes in the grounds of  Broadside, the head office of the mhs homes group. The event was held to coincide with Poverty & Homelessness Action week (Saturday 30^th January to Sunday 7^th February) this year titled  "Enough for all"  to raise awareness of homelessness.

The night was the eighth sleep out in fifteen years organised by mhs homes.  Participants were required to spend the night under the stars in cardboard boxes from 9.00pm on the 30^th to 6.00am the following day for sponsorship to raise funds for local homeless charity "Caring Hands in the Community" and the mhs homes staff chosen charity for 2010, the "British Heart Foundation". mhs homes staff and tenants, along with partners, consultants, contractors, councillors and suppliers gave up their warms beds and together raised a tremendous £19,000 for the two charities.

The Mayor of Medway, Councillor David Royle walked the car park talking to sleepers whilst judging a competition for the Best Boxes.  He later presented prizes for; The Best Box which had an armed forces theme was won by The Housing Solutions Team from Medway Council; The Best Company Box which had a Castle theme was won by Kier South East; The Most Unusual Box which was called the Ageing Hippies was won by three Support Officers from mhs homes. An Individual prize was also awarded to Kathy Lay who, when her friends dropped out decided to go along and take part all on her own.

One of the winning team members Vanessa Wilson, Head of Housing Solutions at Medway Council said, "Our box had an armed forces theme because up to 30% of homeless people in Britain, particularly longer-term rough sleepers, have served in our Armed Forces at some stage before becoming homeless."

mhs homes Chief Executive Ashley Hook said, "The evening was a tremendous success not just because of the amount of money we raised but also because representatives from the whole community were there pulling together. Curry was donated and served by Medway Gurudwara and NACRO. We had cakes donated by residents, staff and neighbours who simply wanted to do something to help. And then there were the boxes, logs, materials and other supplies to help everyone keep warm that were donated by a long list of local companies who were kind enough to help us out." (A full list can be seen on the mhs homes website)

Marti Brogan, Centre Manager for Caring Hands in the Community said," When you're homeless you may feel helpless but with a community like Medway there, with supporting and caring hands will never leave people hopeless. At the end of the day that's what it's all about, caring for and supporting people who are less advantaged.

ACCORDING TO A REPORT FROM CRISIS

The definition of homelessness according to the 1996 Homeless Persons Act is a lack of permanent and secure accommodation. But the general public assume a person to be homeless only if he is a rough sleeper. In fact, those unfortunate people are only the visible tip of an iceberg.  A 'vulnerable and in priority need of housing' category was added in the July 2002 amendments to include people being released from prison or being discharged from the Services.

Homelessness has risen to prominence in our country because of its increasing visibility on our streets and the public's unease at seeing people living their lives there. It is the most obvious manifestation of social exclusion, where the general public come face to face with others who are disconnected from the social and economic mainstream. Unemployment, urban decay, discrimination, inequality and even poverty can be viewed from a distance by most of the population. But homelessness is hard to avoid when, on your way to work, you see people wrapped up in filthy duvets sleeping in shop doorways.

These people come from many different backgrounds and their ranks have been swollen in recent years by the influx of illegal immigrants and asylum seekers. This particular group cannot even access bed and breakfast accommodation as they are not in receipt of benefits. It is a little known fact that, other than night shelters, all first stage hostel accommodation requires that the tenants be in receipt of statutory benefits in order that housing costs can be clawed back from the local housing authority.

Another little known and largely forgotten group is comprised of ex-Servicemen. According to statistics, up to 30% of homeless people in Britain, particularly longer-term rough sleepers, have served in our Armed Forces at some stage before becoming homeless.

As for how they ended up in this situation, most joined the Forces voluntarily and leave because their contract has ended. Most of them have no problem while serving. With this in mind, it is difficult to map out the well trodden pathway they travel down to homelessness. But very few people become homeless before they become jobless.

The large majority of those who do fall into this downward spiral are male soldiers, with few people of either sex coming from the Navy or Air Force. There are several reasons for this. The most obvious being that the Army in particular promotes a 'laddish' culture of 'work hard, play hard', which often means 'drink hard' too. Also, the other Services have a more technical bias, which means that a greater proportion of sailors and airmen acquire skills more readily transferred to the civilian labour market. This is borne out by one in five homeless ex-Servicemen claiming they had no transferable skills on discharge. They also claim that they do not get enough assistance or advice on employment, housing and resettlement issues before they are discharged. As an aside, the same holds true for people being discharged from prison.

Single people leaving the Forces suffer the double blow of losing their job and their accommodation at the same time. The nature of their life in the Forces has meant that they have not built up a stake on the property buying ladder. They are also more likely to have become institutionalised. Contributing to the likelihood among this group must be the scarcity of good quality help and advice on resettlement issues, particularly housing. Grim reading! Recently, HRH The Prince Of Wales expressed a view that I am sure we all agree with. He said: 'We owe them more than that!'