Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Gordonstoun students and staff sleep out to help out

Students who took part in Gordonstoun School's Sleep Out for Shelter quickly learned how difficult just one night out doors can be. Image: Gordonstoun School
Students who took part in Gordonstoun School's Sleep Out for Shelter quickly learned how difficult just one night out doors can be. Image: Gordonstoun School

Students and staff from Gordonstoun School spent 12 hours sleeping outside with only a cardboard bed and a sleeping bag for comfort, raising money and awareness to fight homelessness in the UK.

The Year 11 students had been studying homelessness and the impact that it has on those affected and their families.

Students who took part volunteered for the “sleep out” with open eyes. But still, many said they were surprised by how difficult it was to spend just one night outdoors.

To help further, Gordonstoun School students set up a Just Giving page and they have raised over £1,200 for the charity Shelter.

Promoting compassion and empathy

Richard Devey, Head of Senior School at Gordonstoun, was one of the participating staff members. He said the project, now in its third year, illustrates character traits that Gordonstoun hopes to instil in students.

Richard Devey, Head of Senior School at Gordonstoun, joined students outdoors this week. Image: Gordonstoun School

“I feel it is a very powerful way to promote compassion and empathy which are important parts of the Gordonstoun ethos.”

Despite a cold and wet night, the school said that participants emerged tired but cheerful. One student said that they couldn’t help but feel embarrassed outside.

“For me, I felt a loss of dignity and respect. We are in a rural part of the country but I can imagine in a busy city with lots of people passing it must be even more degrading.”

One hard night, on repeat

Another said that the weather very quickly became their worst enemy.

“I was amazed just how cold I got, I couldn’t do anything to warm up. My cardboard bed soaked up the rain and there was no protection.

“I only did it for one night and it makes me think of those people doing it for weeks, months or even years.”

It can be hard to keep spirits up in the cold and wet all night. Image: Gordonstoun School

Trying to imagine sleeping outdoors night after night – and the toll it would take physically and mentally – was a theme for many students.

“It was so hard to sleep with the outside lights and strange noises all around me,” another said.

“I could hear all sorts of noises and it was hard to block them out. I can’t imagine having to live like that every night.”

You can still contribute to the Gordonstoun School’s Shelter fundraiser online. Students have raised £1,242 so far, blowing past their £500 target.

Shelter is a charity that works to support people at risk and living in homelessness.

Read more from the Schools and Family team

Home-Start Aberdeen can help 65 more local families thanks to lottery grant

‘It’s the children this will affect the most’: Highland children’s charities react to council funding cuts

UHI celebrates apprentice success stories

Conversation