Back in November, Burton YMCA hosted its 8th annual Sleep Out.  A series of events were held over two days and WiRE members Lisa Satchwell, Carol Sewell & Clare Hodson-Walker braved the cold (along with WiRE member and YMCA fundraiser Paula Senior) and slept in a cardboard box at Burton Albion’s Pirelli Stadium to raise money for the charity’s vital services.

Paula said: “The campaign target was to raise £30,000 and we were delighted to announce the grand total is £33,602! – a record-breaking year. We are very grateful to the members who took part and also to everyone who sponsored them or anyone else undertaking Sleep Out. It was an amazing effort and if you fancy joining us this year it would be great to hear from you.”

Lisa Satchwell is already on a mission to recruit more local women to join the 9th Sleep Out in 2017.

Paul Laffey, Chief Executive of the YMCA Burton & District said “In times of austerity, and what has been a difficult financial year for the YMCA, I am thrilled that our Sleep Out has raised such a large amount of money. Every penny raised will go towards helping local homeless & vulnerable people with accommodation, support and the skills to help them move into independent living.”

YMCA Burton & District is the WiRE Burton charity of the year for 2017 and will benefit from fundraising raffles held at its August and December socials. Members and visitors will also be encouraged to bring along donations for the YMCA foodbank at any meetings this year. Details of the items that the foodbank can accept can be found here.