Kids rough it for homeless awareness

By Meg Rayner
Updated November 2 2012 - 11:24am, first published March 4 2009 - 1:28pm
ROUGHING IT: Des Hudson, Ryan Bartok, Molly Reynolds, Nathan Clinton, Craig Schepis and Nicole Thomas.
ROUGHING IT: Des Hudson, Ryan Bartok, Molly Reynolds, Nathan Clinton, Craig Schepis and Nicole Thomas.

MORE than 100 students will go to school without a shower tomorrow.They are getting a taste of what it would be like to be homeless by participating in the first Sleep Rough event for young people at the Mining Exchange tonight.An initiative of the Ballarat Police Youth Leadership Program group - made up of local students Ryan Bartok, Nicole Thomas, Nathan Clinton and Molly Reynolds - the event aims to raise awareness of homelessness in Ballarat and give the students a great understanding about what life is like for some of their peers."It's something the students can look back on when they have a fight at home with their parents and want to run away," Ryan said."This way they actually feel what it's like to sleep rough then have to go to school the next morning," Nicole agreed.The students and their teachers, from six different schools, will meet at the Mining Exchange at 7.30pm before heading to Regent Cinemas to watch homelessness advocate Craig Schepis' documentary and a special screening of Slumdog Millionaire .They will then return to the Mining Exchange for a cup of soup and bread roll before going to sleep.They will sleep on sheets of cardboard on the cold floor with their sleeping bags.In the morning they will be given a light breakfast before heading off to school.St John of God Hospital has also sponsored the event, contributing $10,000 towards making Sleep Rough Kits for young people sleeping on the streets.

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