Several families and individuals from both Parkes and Forbes turned out for the Parkes Sleepout at the PCYC last Wednesday night.
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The event was organised by housing support workers from CentaCare Wilcannia Forbes to raise awareness of homelessness in the Central West.
The event, which ran from 6pm until midnight, included playing games, watching movies, playing basketball, a barbecue dinner and snacks.
CentaCare Housing Support Worker Andrew Bament said he was thankful to those who turned up.
“We are a bit disappointed by numbers,” he said.
“But we’ll make sure it’s an annual event from here on in and hopefully it will get bigger and better each year.”
The sleepout was originally to be an overnight event.
“We had some venue complications and had to change the end time to midnight, we’ll learn from that,” Andrew said.
“We’re doing this because there is an issue in the Central West and we want people to know we can and will help.
“We certainly don’t think people are only homeless for one night of the year.”