News

THE COLD TRUTH - SLEEP OUT 2020

21 FEBRUARY 2020 14:55

The Liberty Stadium played host to The Wave’s ‘Cold Truth’ sleep out on Thursday 20th February, in support of five of the city’s homeless charities.

The South Wales based specialist industrial contractor, E.G.Lewis Group teamed up with The Wave, Swansea Sound, Tata Steel and Swansea City as hosts to bring the cold truth in homelessness to South Wales. As co-partners of the event, we had eight of our people participating in the campaigned event which included Tim Lewis (Managing Director), Steven Jenkins (Operations Manager), Clare Scoberg (Financial Director), Christian Jones (Managing Director of Artico Environmental), Dafydd Johnston (Project Engineer), Ffion Jones (Group Accountant), Ben Jenkins (Business Development & Marketing Co-ordinator) and Michael Roderick (Fleet Manager).

The campaign has fundraised for five local charities that support homelessness throughout South Wales, in which includes Shelter Cymru, who work for people in housing need across Wales and prevent people from losing their homes by offering free, confidential and independent advice; Matthews House, who provides a ‘home’ in the heart of Swansea for those who are most vulnerable and a building that is known for providing a lifeline for the homeless and others who need it; Zac’s Place, over the years, has earned a reputation for providing a safe haven and an environment of pro-active care and concern for some of Swansea’s most alienated people; Llamau, believe that no young person or vulnerable woman should ever have to experience homelessness, their mission is to eradicate homelessness for young people and vulnerable women and Trampface/Salute, Lee West & Paul O'Dwyer started Trampface in 2014 to raise awareness on the amount of ex-military men & women who are sadly living on our streets. The organisation aims at helping veterans within South Wales to get back on their feet, provide a helping hand and offer support where it's needed most.

The number of homeless people in Neath Port Talbot has almost tripled over the past year. New figures from the local authority show the county had 203 homeless people in 2017/18 compared to 71 the previous year.

While the event was not a true comparison to the life of a homeless person, we at E.G. Lewis Group hope that by raising awareness of the issue it will help raise funds for the projects that tackle homelessness. Our fundraising total currently stands at £1,528.00, this surpassing the initial fundraising target of £800.00 set by the team.

Steve Jenkins, Operations Manager for E.G.Lewis Group had this to say about the event:

“We were delighted to participate in the Cold Truth event that raises awareness and funds for charities battling homelessness throughout South Wales. Although the event wasn’t a true comparison to how a homeless individual lives especially through the difficult winter conditions, it provided us with a sense of appreciation for what we all have and the need to drive awareness throughout our local communities.”