Wednesday, March 09, 2011
Hundreds of students sleep rough for a night
Find out about some of the amazing Sleepouts to End Destitution students have held in cities up and down the country…
What happened?
Hundreds of students from STAR and Amnesty have slept on the streets in the last couple of weeks to make people take notice of the destitution of asylum seekers.
We are asking MPs to support granting permission to work for asylum seekers so they can support themselves.
Read our update below about some of the Sleepout adventures so far!
Get Sleepout updates & photos on Facebook
Read more about the STAR & Amnesty Sleepouts
Tuesday 22nd Feb
Sleepouts to End Destitution kicked off on Tuesday with Kent and Essex!
Kent persuaded 35 students to sleep on a lawn in the middle of campus and were supported by local charity Catching Lives.
Essex had over 20 students involved and 14 sleeping the whole night. Lots of names on the petition and statements of support from Richard Howitt MEP and Bob Russell MP!
Thursday 24th Feb
Thursday saw students in Manchester, Bradford, Exeter, Lancaster, Aberystwyth and over 6 London universities sleepout!
Manchester had a huge turnout with over 200 supporters and 50 people sleeping out! Local MPs Kate Green and John Leech attended to show their support and a reporter from the Manchester Evening News even slept out with them!
In Lancaster 20 students slept rough and many more supporters helped produce a petition with 300 signatures for local MP Ben Bradshaw to take away with him.
Over 13 sleepers in Exeter and 18 in Bradford each drew plenty of attention, with a passer-by even stopping to offer some food!
Over 200 supporters gathered in Covent Garden for the London Sleepout to listen to speakers from Liberty, Still Human Still Here, Zimbabwe Association and Refugee Council, plus Melanie McFadyean, a writer for the Guardian. The public were also treated to some acoustic music and a performance by Theatre Reportage about the memories and travels of refugees. Students from UCL, LSE, SOAS, City, Barts Medical School, & University of Arts all came together and 40 slept all night!
Friday 25th February
Sheffield’s local MP Paul Blomfield attended the sleepout on the campus concourse with over 30 students – see the photos below!
Southampton worked tirelessly to get over 200 signatures in the pouring rain and 30 students in Cardiff also braved a very wet evening to make their Sleepout a success!
Aberdeen got plenty of petition signatures and people willing to sleep in the Grampian outdoors. They will present Frank Doran MP with a letter of thanks along with a petition to pass on to Theresa May.
The 20 sleepers in Glasgow held a hugely successful open-mic night, with a speaker from the Unity Centre and a candlelit vigil.
Sleepouts were also held in Liverpool and Plymouth!
Saturday 26th February
Cambridge collected 100 signatures on a stall during the day, followed by a film and speech in the evening, with 15 students sleeping out.
Oxford slept on the same night with 66 students taking part!
Thursday 3rd March
In Leeds 50 people slept out, hundreds of signatures were collected and boxes of food were collected for PAFRAS, a local charity supporting destitute asylum seekers.
Friday 4th March
Over 25 Birmingham students slept outside St Philips Cathedral after an evening where 200 supporters were entertained with fire jugglers, bongo-players and a magician!
Newcastle STAR slept outside St Thomas’ Church – see photo below!
Still to come…
… Warwick on 11th March
… Bristol on 18th March
Posted by STAR team on 09/03/2011 at 11:52 AM
