Our team mustered at the event location, Pentillie Castle, around 20:15, hoping that the rain would decide not to visit us…
Our team mustered at the event location, Pentillie Castle, around 20:15. We had all been nervously glancing at the sky all day at work, hoping that at least we could stay dry throughout the night despite any other discomfort we had to endure. My fears grew as I walked my dog after work as a shower opened up from an increasingly darkening sky. This didn’t look good……..
However, the rain soon stopped and the team assembled in good spirits, eager to meet the organisers and other participants. We registered and were directed to the area we were to call our bed for the night; a gravel terrace behind a low wall, a mere two feet high, which promised to be our only shelter from a growing Westerly wind. We set up our beds, the gravel digging into my knee as I unrolled my sleeping bag and mat, serving as a stark reminder that a measly 10mm thick layer of foam was all that would be between my sleeping bag and those sharp stone points all night!
We assembled around a fire pit, to be addressed in turn by the hosts, the organisers and then one of the beneficiaries of the excellent work done by the charity. A relatively young man by the name of Adam, went on to tell us of his experience. How Alabare had not only rehomed him, but given him confidence and self belief to turn his life around and qualify as a building site supervisor. He is now living with his partner and two children in their own home and he is in full time employment, almost free of the demons that had previously driven him to despair.
After a blessing and some community singing, we all set ourselves to the task in hand of bedding down for the night in these challenging conditions. Morale remained high, we were all comfortably warm due to the many layers of clothing and heavy duty military sleeping bags we had mostly borrowed from friends, still serving in the military. Despite keeping the cold at bay, and the rain staying away, it proved to be a sleepless night for most of us. Encumbered by so much clothing and laying on a hard surface that crunched almost as much as my back and knees likely would the following morning, every time I moved, our situation was ridiculously uncomfortable. The chimes of the clock tower looming above us heralded the passing of each hour, until the bugle would sound “reveille” and we could go home to the comfort of own beds.
0630 finally arrived and the crisp notes of the bugle cut through the darkness at last. Dozens of stiff bodies arose from the dew dampened ground, stretching, groaning and shaking life back into stiff bodies.
Hot drinks and bacon rolls served by our hosts quickly restored smiles and we chatted and reflected on what the night had brought to each of us. The unanimous verdict, “Thank God I have a roof over my head and don’t have to do that every night”.
In terms of money raised, I’m delighted to say that my personal total stands at £3149. That of my team closing in on £6500, and the event overall at £37500. Speaking for my team, we never dreamt we’d get anywhere near that, thinking £3000 would be a very good target to achieve between us.
The Just Giving page remains open for at least one month more. Thank you for taking the time to read this Brethren, and I implore you to give anything you’re able to spare, no matter how small.