Salvos sleepout to reach new heights

AN event aimed at helping Hobart’s homeless is being taken to new heights.

With this year’s Sleeping Out for the Salvos taking place online due to COVID19, one participant will be raising the stakes to bring more awareness to the issue.

Spidertech managing director Haig Rice will be sleeping suspended from the roof of Hobart’s Hotel Grand Chancellor for the September 3 fundraiser, an opportunity he said would bring more attention to the cause.

“It’s something we feel pretty strongly about, and so we just think this will attract a lot more attention, and perhaps get people motivated and interested,” he said.

“I don’t for a moment think that I’ll be emulating the experience of a homeless person, but it’ll give me an opportunity to think about the experiences homeless people might be having, as we all should, and empathise with what that must be like.”

Salvation Army public relations officer Brad Watson said though the sleepout would look a little different, they hoped it would still have a big impact: “We’re really excited about what we’re able to offer people in terms of an online experience — a virtual night where they’ll be able to sleep out in their car or on their couch or in their back yard or in a mate’s tent and still tune in,” he said.

“The ethos is still absolutely the same. It’s about learning, about experiencing something different.

“It’s about experiencing one night of discomfort that is going to change the life of somebody else.”

During the evening, participants also can virtually visit homelessness services, listen to testimonies, and listen to a panel of guests who will discuss key issues surrounding the issue.

This year’s fundraising goal of $50,000 will help keep Hobart’s Street2Home Outreach Program running for another year. To register, visit salvossleepout.salvation army.org.au.