A PASSION for supporting vulnerable women is the driving force behind one fundraiser’s mammoth mission to sleep on the streets for ten consecutive nights in towns across the UK.
Lianne Kirkman will commence the gruelling Her Fight, Our Night Sleepout challenge on February 1 in support of the Leamington-based The Esther Project, a charity she launched in 2023.
Her journey will take her to Coventry, Birmingham, Bristol, Plymouth, Southampton, London, Doncaster, Hull and, finally Blackpool, where, along the way, she will meet local organisations supporting women and raising awareness of the complex issues and best practice solutions which currently exist, as well as highlighting the gaps in service provision.
Lianne is being joined for the first Sleepout, in Leamington’s Pump Room Gardens, by supporters Jonathan Handford, of Fine & Country in Leamington, Elinor Perry of Pentlands Accountants, Leamington, Gurdip Chatha, of Esque Beauty, Leamington, Sophie Howe of Comtec Translations in Sydenham, and Leamington foodie, presenter and entrepreneur Bianca Rodrigues-Perry.
She is being supported on her tour by members of the charity team, Lisa Nicholle and Kerry Steward as well as Laura Harvey of Vibe Immersive.
Lianne’s tour will also be documented by local film maker Laura Harvey and later screened as part of a special conference organised as part of International Women’s Day weekend, on March 7.
The 50-year-old mum of two said: “What I would like to show through this Sleep Out is that women need women-only services to keep them safe. I’m now launching a new venture and I am really keen to highlight the lack of funding for women’s services.
“I want to highlight the need for more women’s centres and some of the great work and some good practice around the UK and we want to work with the other charities to highlight the issue around the Government’s role in funding women’s services.
“Every experience is going to be different because sleeping in Leamington is going to be very different to sleeping in Doncaster, which will be very different again to sleeping in London or Plymouth etc. But I know that we’re going to be met with the same issues around funding, around women not being safe, the effects of trauma and the cycle of abuse, the poverty cycle and women in and out of the criminal justice system.”
The challenge marks 10 years of Sleepouts for Lianne since setting up Helping Hands Community Project in 2015, but this time with women – and The Esther Project – very much in her sights.
Money raised will fund women’s services in Warwickshire.
To sponsor Lianne visit https://localgiving.org/fundraising/Her-Fight-Our-Night-10-day-sleepout-across-the-UK
