The Lady Mayoress’s Sleep Out, hosted by The Lady Mayoress, Florence King, was held on the night of Thursday 6th March in Guildhall Yard to raise awareness of homelessness in the City and to raise funds for Homewards, a Lord Mayor’s Appeal charity, and The Pret Foundation.
Now in its third year, the event was initiated by Freeman Amanda Keaveney when she was Lady Mayoress in 2021/22.
Past Master Virginia Bond shares her experience of sleeping rough…
“This is the second time I have chosen to brave the elements and sleep out in Guildhall Yard, but I was in good company – in total, 110 of us took part!
It was a clear, cold night, but thankfully dry; we collected our sheets of cardboard, unrolled our sleeping bags, and claimed our piece of ground. The Lord Mayor came along to wish us all well, and after speeches, photographs, much chatting and hot drinks supplied by Pret (two cups of hot chocolate helped warm me up), we bedded down for the night around midnight.
Fortunately my day had been full and I was tired. The night was filled with noise – occasional chatter, along with the odd siren and plenty of refuse collection trucks. Although disturbed, I did managed to get some sleep before the City woke at 5am.
Unlike those who sleep out on the streets every night without the safety of Guildhall Security, we were greeted with very welcome hot coffee and breakfast rolls served by Pret. By 6.30am the day had started, Guildhall Yard was cleared and I headed home, extremely grateful in the knowledge a warm bed awaited me for Friday night and happy to have raised £500 for the charities.”
Homewards is a charitable initiative launched The Royal Foundation of The Prince and Princess of Wales – a transformative five-year, locally led programme that aims to demonstrate that together it’s possible to end homelessness. They have partnered with The Pret Foundation who are dedicated to making a difference to the lives of people affected by hunger, poverty and homelessness.
March 2025
