These 17 year olds from St Wilfrid's Catholic School in Crawley took part in a 'sleep out' in their town centre organised by the parish. Sharing dinner with the homeless people sleeping in the same area as them that night, they got talking. The connection and experience moved them and they decided to take their experience further.

Of their own volition they presented their ideas to the Head Teacher who gave his support to their proposed campaign. They used assemblies to raise awareness and went into classes to make cross-curricular links to many subjects. They got their message out by using notice boards and social media. Alongside their awareness raising they also started to fundraise for local charity Crawley Open House. They ran events within the school from cake sales to a sleep out on the last day of term before the Christmas Break. Everyone in the school community got involved in their campaign!

The Christmas liturgy was very emotional as the students linked with the realities of homeless people to the flight of the Holy Family. After the liturgy the students processed to a sleep out. The morning liturgies ended with the students speaking about the experience and why they were raising money and awareness.

What they said: “I believe their success is down to … the faith and prayers of the students “ - Claire Franke, Chaplain