Staff’s military-style sleepout

Staff at a Windsor nursery swapped their beds for a military-style sleepout in aid of the Royal British Legion at the weekend.

William Street Nursery raised £635 in the charity fundraiser on Saturday to raise awareness of the 6,000 veterans experiencing homelessness in the UK.

One dad, Garry Bennett from the company doing refurbishments at the Victoria Barracks in Windsor, liaised with the army to provide staff members with a shelter, sleeping bags and army rations on the night.

He said: “It was a good deed really. We were trying to raise the maximum money and everyone chipped in to supply them with [stuff] to have a nice, comfortable night out.”

Nursery manager Kerri Woods, who took part in the sleepout, added: “Garry really came through for us. It went well and we’re super proud.

“When we saw the campaign, we thought this is a bit of us – it’s just around the corner and we wanted to support the local community.

“We have a lot of military families with us, so we are very in tune with the army community. It’s something that we hold very dear to our hearts. Anything we can do to support the forces, we will.”

“This is real life for some people. The whole experience has opened our eyes and made us want to do more and continue to support homeless [initiatives] in Windsor.”

Major Eddie Pickers-Gill from the Victoria Barracks said the fundraiser was a ‘good collaboration’ and the army offered to give the nursery staff the ‘full experience of sleeping out as we do as soldiers’.

He said: “Homeless veterans is a subject very close to our hearts and we were pleased to be able to support the charity event.

“If soldiers leave and fall on hard times, it’s nice for serving soldiers to be able to help the veterans and this was a good opportunity to raise money for a worthy cause.

“I think they enjoyed using the kit and the experience of what it’s like out in the elements.”

To support the cause, visit: https://tinyurl.com/yr2bdd4