I started to feel a little anxious around 6am on Friday morning when I woke up to the sound of heavy wind & rain belting off the window.
I was wondering if I would wake up outdoors in the same kind of weather the next morning. I spent Friday at meetings and in the office but I felt a knot develop in my stomach around lunchtime and I couldn’t get rid of it until I got to the Shine a Light event. I was apprehensive and just wanted it to get started. My 3 year old nephew had given me his little teddy and his torch to keep me company while I slept outside to ‘help the people that don’t have nice warm beds’ as his mother had explained it to him.
I prepared my backpack as the guidelines had outlined by lining it with black refuse bags to keep the contents from getting wet. I packed a flask of tea, some chocolate, extra gloves, hat, scarf and jumper.
I left the office around 6.30pm to head up to the Gaol. My colleague offered to drive me up but I was still feeling a little anxious and felt I needed some quiet time on my own in the car beforehand.
I arrived and relaxed a little when I was greeted by the Focus Ireland staff and volunteers who were there to help out. I met with the other participants 
and we listened to a briefing by the Acting CEO of Focus Ireland, Mark Byrne who explained that there are 5,000 people homeless in Ireland at any given time. This is what is deemed a ‘manageable’ figure which means we should actually be able to work to greatly reduce this number.
We also had some words of advice from the security and health & safety people. The mention of foxes and badgers at this point got me a little worried as I hadn’t really thought of those!
Along with the rest of the group we were shown to a grassy area which was our designated sleeping area for the night. We put down our sheets of plastic and cardboard which had been provided to us and then our sleeping bags.
We then passed the time chatting and drinking cups of tea as well as a few games of charades.
I believe my team won but it could just be selective memory! We bedded down around midnight. It was quite strange at first to be sleeping outdoors with a group of other businesspeople from Cork – almost a bit surreal. The sky was quite clear and I managed to get a few hours of sleep on and off which I didn’t expect. I had brought an umbrella to cover my head so when there were showers I didn’t feel the drops on my face so it didn’t bother me too much. The night was so mild that I wasn’t bothered by the cold either so that made it a lot easier to rest. I think also the knowledge that we were in a safe environment with security and help at hand if we needed it made it much easier to get some shut eye. I can’t imagine you would feel so much at ease if 
you had to sleep on the streets.
I woke just before 6am as the rest of the group were stirring also. The mood was quite sombre in the morning. In packing up my stuff it made me realise just how hard it must be to have to do that every day, to keep your sleeping bag dry (I was able to just drag mine to the car because I knew it was going to be washed anyway) and to find a place to wander around for the day until it’s time to bed down again.
Of course this was a safe, organised event and so it’s not as if we really experienced what homeless people go through because we were all in a position to go home to a warm shower and our own beds. However, it did make me stop to think more about people who have to do this night after night. I honestly believe that not having a place to call home must be one of the worst feelings in the world.
I’m glad I took part in this worthwhile event and took the time raise money and awareness around this issue. For those who donated money and my team for organizing the cake sale I thank you very sincerely. If you would like to donate you can still do so at www.shinealight.ie/sponsor.
Julia Lynes
