On April 4, The Ipswich Community Youth Service ran the SleepOut for Youth Homelessness event to support young people who are currently or at risk of becoming homeless. According to the ABS census of housing and population, an astonishing 42% of all homeless people in Australia are under the age of 25!

Access youth worker Jade Benstead and colleague Joe Woolford attended the event with around 50 other participants to spend a night sleeping under the stars and participating in a range of activities including creating a box shelter. The night focussed on experiencing and understanding the struggles many homeless youth go through every night to help create awareness and preventative measures for the future. The event raised a total of $5000, which will go towards supporting children, young people and young families who are at risk of homelessness or who are homeless.