THREE teachers slept rough for the night in Brighton to help raise money for a city homeless charity, raising £1956 in the process.

Roedean teachers Suzie Sturgeon, Phil Halsey and Justine Crawley spent the night sleeping in cardboard boxes in York Place just near St Peter’s Church last weekend (Nov 18) as part of the charity Off The Fence’s annual Big Sleep Out.

The Big Sleep Out is an annual fundraising challenge for people to experience what life can be like for rough sleepers and to raise money to help them off the streets and back on track for the kind of normal life that the rest of us take for granted. Brighton and Hove is one of the highest ratio rough sleeper cities in the UK.

This is the second year the Big Sleep Out event, which each participant pays £20 to be part of, has taken place and it is supported by dozens of companies as well as being championed by Hove MP Peter Kyle and the mayor of Brighton Lizzie Deane. Last year £34,000 was raised.

Suzie said: “This experience provided us with the briefest snapshot of what homeless people experience each night, and it was very powerful to hear the stories of people involved with Off The Fence."