Dozens swap beds for boxes in aid of homeless charity

The Big Sleep 2018 saw participants spend the night in a cardboard box on The Stade Open Space, in what is the biggest fundraiser of the year for Seaview.

The night was kicked off with live performances from Hastings favourites Bobby Fuego’s Fat Fingers of Funk and the Haystingers, with King Size Slim and local poet Pete Donohue later bringing the entertainment to a close. Prizes were also awarded to the individual and team who raised the most money for the charity.

Seaview is an open access wellbeing centre that helps those living on the margins of society, and the only one of its kind in Hastings and St Leonards.

Most clients experience problems with their accommodation – either live in inadequate accommodation, sofa surf and/or sleep rough on the streets. Due to reductions in Government funding in recent years, Seaview relies more and more on donations.

• Colleagues from the Hastings Observer series took part in the Big Sleep this year. Chief reporter Maria Hudd, senior reporter Stephen Wynn-Davies and newspaper sales executive Kerry Stevens all swapped their beds for boxes to raise money for Seaview, as part of the paper’s Hope for the Homeless campaign.

To donate, visit https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/hastingsobserver1066.

See Friday’s paper for the full report.

Photos by Frank Copper