Siblings sleep under stars for homeless charity

Twins Lucy and Andrew Rabjohn, 12, and their brother Matthew Rabjohn, 10, will be joining hundreds of other brave volunteers to sleep in the cold outside St Albans Abbey.

They hope to highlight the plight of homeless people and raise funds for Luton-based youth homelessness charity, LAMP, which their mother Karen Rabjohn works for.

Lucy said: “We’re very excited to do the sleep-out. It’s going to be cold, I’ll probably have to wear my whole wardrobe - hats, gloves, everything. I can sleep through earthquakes so I think it will be alright, I just hope it doesn’t snow. I will definitly be glad to get back to my bed and watch X Factor the next day. It will be scary but this is what some people do every night.”

The family, who live in Dunstable, are well prepared for the night with surivival bags, sleeping bags and cardboard boxes to keep them warm, and there will be a kitchen providing warm drinks and soup.

Andrew said: “Some people can’t even afford a survival bag though, so that’s why we are doing this. We are really lucky to have a nice house to live in but some aren’t as lucky so that’s why we want to raise money for LAMP.”

This is the third sleep-out Karen has taken part in, but the first one that her children will be taking part in too.

Matthew said: “My mum works for a really good charity, which helps people whose mum’s and dad’s can’t look after them any more. I want to raise money to help LAMP help more young people.”

The children, who all go to Ashton Middle School, have raised £600 from sponsorship so far but are hoping to meet their target of £1,000.

Last year’s event raised a much-needed £7,000 for LAMP, and with funding being cut even further this year and the charity under pressure to house more young homeless people than ever before, hopes are high that this year will be just as successful, with the current total target set at £10,000.

To sponsor them go to http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/Rabjohn.