Schoolfriends go homeless for their citizenship project

A group of students from Tring School braved sub-zero temperatures as they spent 24 hours homeless as part of a citizenship project.
Pupils from Tring School spent 24 hours homeless as part of a citizenship projectPupils from Tring School spent 24 hours homeless as part of a citizenship project
Pupils from Tring School spent 24 hours homeless as part of a citizenship project

The group spent 24 hours in Dolphin Square over a weekend in aid of DENS, the Dacorum-based charity which supports the homeless in the borough.

Archie Brooks, George Perks, Darspal Singh, Daniel Lloyd and Luke Scales raised more than £170 for the charity through the challenge.

Group leader Archie said: “The challenge ran from midnight on Saturday to midnight on Sunday and we were very tired and very cold at the end of it.

“The lowest temperature was -2C and I only managed about five minutes sleep the whole time.”

The group, all aged 16 and 17, decided to undertake the brave mission as part of their Active Citizenship project.

Archie said: “We only had one camera and one bag of crisps each - that was all we ate.

“Our parents were a bit worried about us when we said about doing this challenge and they made sure we wrapped up warm.

“Once we sat down we really noticed the cold weather and we played games to keep us warm such as Hopscotch.

“Through this challenge we got a better understanding of how tough it is for everyone out in the cold and how we sometimes take these things for granted.”

Archie thanked the community for all their donations.

He said: “The teachers donated a lot and one approached us and gave us £20.

“We came up with the idea as a group before Christmas when we were thinking about people who would be homeless at Christmas.

“It was a very different activity to what a lot of our classmates have done but it was all in a good cause and it has certainly opened our eyes.”

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