dead tired?

You would be if you had to sleep in a graveyard every night. How about doing it for just one night? Will you choose to sleep rough for one night to help those who have no choice? Chelmsford CHESS is a Chelmsford and Essex homeless project and they have organised a graveyard sleepout for 27/28th November at St. John’s Church graveyard in Chelmsford. All you need to take part is your sleeping bag, cardboard boxes or polythene and get sponsored. There will be musical entertainment in the church between 9:30-11pm before people bed down for the night. Given the way the weather has been over the last couple of weeks it is going to be quite a challenge.

CHESS have been organising these sleepouts for a couple of years and they are a good way of getting across to people the challenges faced by the homeless, as well as an effective way of raising much needed funds. Our parish has been a supporter of CHESS for some time and several members of the congregation take part in the sleepouts.

Chelmsford CHESS seeks to reflect Christ's love by relieving hardship and distress amongst the single homeless in Chelmsford and Essex through:

• the provision of temporary accommodation for homeless adults
• Day Centre activities meeting users' essential needs
• the opportunity of progress towards a more settled way of life
• active promotion of a sense of security and self-worth
• respect for the dignity of all

Further information about the work of CHESS can be found here.