Year 10 Winter Sleepout

The St Vincent De Paul Winter Appeal culminates with the Year 10 Winter Sleepout. Having focussed on the poverty and suffering that people right here in Perth experience, we complete the project by conducting the Sleepout in our gym, the Fr Peter O’Reilly Centre.

Students sleep in the O’Reilly Centre for one night. They are permitted to bring only a sleeping bag and a cardboard box to sleep in. No lollies, electrical appliances such as mp3 players, or any other comfort items are allowed. Whilst there, students participate in trust exercises, eat food provided by an emergency food organisation, participate in a service activity and listen to speakers who themselves are currently or have been homeless on the streets of Perth.

The Winter Sleepout, although not the genuine experience, serves as a very effective window for our students into the lives of those who are less fortunate than they are – and thus assists in motivating our students to live their lives out of love and goodness. They learn that those who suffer from poverty are members of our own community and that a community only works when its members contribute to each other in valuable ways.

Our students leave this Christian Service-Learning event tired having not slept well on the floorboards, but also more aware of how others live in our community and with the desire to be ‘prepared for all good works’.