Youtube Video The fund-raising ball is well and truly rolling for LifeWise’s The BigSleepOut. But it’s not too late to send a few dollars the way of some of your fellow marketing/business types who are sleeping rough for a night on 14 October and raising awareness and money for homeless people.
Image Centre Group’s Mike Hutcheson is taking part and he says he used to think homelessness was “a lifestyle choice made by the unwashed and unwilling; unnecessary in a country with a strong and established welfare system”.
“In previous decades some of the homeless would have been institutionalised, unwanted and hidden, now they’re often highly visible, but still unwanted, except by warm and giving souls who recognise that homelessness is most often a temporary state occasion by social, or in the case of Christchurch recently, geologic events. Sometimes some people fall through the cracks in the system. Looking after them isn’t glamorous, but it’s ongoing.”
All up, there are around 60 business and community leaders taking part (fork over some dosh to your favourites here), including Brandworld’s David McGregor (who says compared to actually being homeless it won’t be too much of a hardship, but it is symbolic), Jericho’s Jeff Mann, Bizzone’s Sarah Trotman and Running With Scissors boss Andy Mitchell.
“I’ll be swapping my bed for the harsh reality of a night on cold concrete and getting first hand experience of why Lifewise’s work is so vital,” says Mitchell.
