Merici College Vinnies School Sleepout

“By sleeping out with my peers, will give us a small taste of what it could be like to sleep rough. We are very lucky to have warm homes to go to and warm clothes to wear, but as the stats show, not everyone is this fortunate.”

Canberra’s cold temperatures set in for Merici College Year 10, 11 and 12 students and teachers who rose to the challenge on Thursday 17June for the annual Vinnies School Sleepout.

The group slept outdoors in the New Quad to raise funds for Canberra’s homeless. With the temperature a low 4 degrees, students and teachers prepared themselves for a cold night. The aim of the night was to promote awareness within our Merici community of the issue of homelessness and to experience a small part of the reality of homelessness.  The stats are really concerning to me. In 2019 we had 290,000 homeless in Australia and the number is only growing. What hits hard for me is that almost 26,000 are children under the age of 18, with two-thirds being under the age of 12, said Sara Blakey, Merici’s Social Justice Captain.

Over 80 students were joined by a number of staff “sleeping rough” on cardboard but with the luxury of sleeping bags, warm clothes and a bowl of warm soup. This highlighted some of the challenges the homeless deal with every day, such as lack of showers and nourishing food.

Sara went on to say that this social justice issue affects all our community and as part of her involvement in our Social Justice Group, she, together with her peers, decided that they wanted to be involved in this event to raise awareness amongst the school community.

“By sleeping out with my peers, will give us a small taste of what it could be like to sleep rough. We are very lucky to have warm homes to go to and warm clothes to wear, but as the stats show, not everyone is this fortunate.”

As part of the sleepout, guest speaker Matthew Wilson, Vinnies ACT Youth Liaison Officer and volunteers from the Night Patrol Van spoke to the students about the services they offer and gave the girls a tour of the van. It was wonderful to learn more about the many ways that our community can reach out and help homeless people.

Ms Amy Connellan, Head of Mission and Community noted that during Matthew’s presentation, students were challenged to reflect on the security of their own lives and what would they do if circumstances were to change. “This was a very powerful experience for our students and staff. It was confronting to sit quietly in the cold, dark outdoors to contemplate the reality for many in our community”, said Ms Connellan.

In addition to the sleepout, the school community also participated in the Vinnies Can Line, collecting over 2,500 cans of food that was donated to Vinnies and OzHarvest. A clothing drive as part of the Winter Appeal was also organised with many items of clothing and blankets given to Vinnies ACT.

The Merici College students, together with Merici Board member Anne-Marie Cooper and Anna Masters, College Principal have raised $9,110, an outstanding effort. We thank members of our community for their generous donations. We would also like to thank Anne-Marie for her wonderful reflection below.

We would like to thank all students and staff for supporting this most worthwhile initiative and would like to express heartfelt gratitude to St Vincent de Paul and the Night Patrol Van for the invaluable contribution they make to our community.

 

"It was such a privilege for me to be a close part of the Merici family last night. The participating girls were beautiful and respectful young women. I know they had so much fun but I know too that they will take away from it the underlying reason for the Vinnies Sleepout and appreciate what they all have in their own lives. As you know I am passionate about all young people but especially helping those in real need particularly young people and families, where my Marymead work comes in. I hope the 80 girls last night will continue in their “giving” right through their lives. Age in no barrier. " Anne-Marie Cooper

 

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