September 2020

So proud to be part of this incredible event. I did the Glass Door Sleep Out last year and it was horrible and life-affirming. Horrible that we even have to think about homelessness in 2020 — and life-affirming that so many people did and donated and made the (sleepless) night so important to Glass Door, me, and, most importantly, the guests they help.

I’m honoured to be one of the presenters at this year’s Sleep Out (Or In).

I am also sleeping out again.

This is why.

I was ‘hidden homeless’ for 10 years and I know the damage that caused me – screwed my mental health/relationships/life – so God knows what living on the street does to a person.

I moved ‘home’ 30 times in that decade; 19 in two years. I ‘lived’ on a stranger’s sofa; stayed in friends of friends’ spare rooms (having to move between one address and another mid-week because one FoF’s girlfriend didn’t want me in the same building as her bloke); and, in the flat with syringes in the bathroom, had the joy of a man I’d never met walking into my bedroom as I was naked in bed.

This is not how we should live.

And I was lucky. People helped me. Some people get no help. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. A home is a basic need. And right.

Please help me raise awareness and funds.

Thank you.

xx

Link for donations: https://www.glassdoor.org.uk/Fundraisers/dame-bibi-needs-you-