Dear JPC Community

On Wednesday 19 June 2024 over 100 students from our College will participate in the Winter Sleepout.

Our Principal Dr Craig Wattam will participate the night after at the annual CEO sleepout, and JPC College students and staff will be fundraising and coming together in solidarity. If you know Craig at all, you will understand that his dislike of cold weather makes this a special challenge for him!

This will be the 11^th year that JPC has participated in the Vinnies Winter Sleepout. Over that time, we have raised more than $100,000.00 for St Vincent de Paul in the ACT. Homelessness is a growing problem in Australia, particularly among women in middle and old age. Let us see if we can collectively raise funds to assist those who have found themselves with nowhere safe, dry or warm to go.

The Winter Sleepout is an opportunity for the community to come together and grow in awareness of the thousands of people sleeping rough in our Australian community and, for us in the ACT, to raise much needed funds for our Canberra brothers and sisters who are much less fortunate than ourselves.

On any given night, there are at least 2,000 people sleeping rough, even during Canberra's freezing winters. There are many complex and nuanced reasons why people find themselves in this situation, almost always due to circumstances outside of their control.

The JPC Winter Sleepout will take place after school from 6:30 pm on Wednesday 19 June 2024. There will be some games and awareness-raising activities in support of this initiative. The Sleepout will conclude with a family breakfast on Thursday 20 June 2024 at 7.30 am.

Students interested in taking part in the Vinnies Sleepout on Wednesday 19 June at JPC who have not registered their interest need to speak to Mr Igoe Taylor ASAP. Conditions apply.