Students’ Night Out Will Raise Funds for Charity

Nine students from South Eastern Regional College (SERC) are fulfilling core components of their course in Protective Services while helping others – and sacrificing a good night’s sleep. 

On Thursday 5 December, the students and their tutor Irwin Pryce will join the MACS Sleep Out in Belfast, which raises funds to help tackle youth homelessness and also raises awareness of the issue. The SERC team is made up of five first year and four second year students on the National Extended Diploma in Uniformed Protective Services, and their course includes units on volunteering as well as on teamwork and leadership. The sleep out will form an element of their studies and is a natural fit for SERC’s project-based and practical approach to learning.  

The SERC team will brave the winter weather from 7pm until 7am along with other volunteers at Banana Block, Belfast. They are hoping that people will sponsor them and support MACS, a local charity which works with children and young people (aged 16 –25) who haven’t had a fair deal. They may be experiencing homelessness, substance abuse, self-harm, mental health issues, leaving care or be generally at risk. The sleepout, which has the aspiration of putting youth homelessness to bed, takes place during Homelessness Awareness Week, which runs from 2nd-11th December. 

MACS is a volunteer-led organisation, and all donations will make a real difference in the run up to Christmas by creating opportunities for young people in Northern Ireland to have a home, to strengthen their mental health and to be part of a community.  You can donate to MACS and support our students here.