Aquinians brave the cold for annual sleep-out
Sheets of cardboard, sleeping bags, and winter woollies were all in ample supply for the Aquinas annual sleep-out on Friday 30 August.
Outreach Coordinator, Alisha Rout, explained that the sleep-out had two aims, both to raise funds for the Hutt Street Centre’s work with Adelaide’s homeless, and also to give students some experience of what sleeping rough in cold winter temperatures might mean.
“Students have to make do with simple things for the night,” said Alisha. “No electronics and no phones.”
Over sixty students took part this year, sleeping on the hard basketball court surface without air-mattresses, tents, or other creature comforts.
Alisha said that Aquinas has a long relationship with Hutt Street and its projects.
“It’s all part of the developing of a sense of critical awareness and social responsibility,” said Brother Mark, the College Chaplain, “something that is at the heart of what an Aquinian is.”