Mary Lou braves a night on the street for charity

Mary Lou braves a night on the street for charity

4 December 2019

A DOWNPATRICK estate agent has experienced what it is like to have nowhere to sleep at night.

Mary Lou Press spent a night sleeping out rough in London and managed to raise over £3,000 for charity.

Mary Lou, a partner at Alexander Reid & Frazer in Downpatrick, joined more than 100 other estate agents from across the UK who slept out at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

The event was part of the Sleep Out campaign run by Centrepoint, a charity which provides support to homeless young people.

“It was definitely worth it  — albeit freezing,” Mary Lou said afterwards.

“I raised just over £3,000 for Centrepoint and I also received a generous donation of 10 new sleeping bags from a local company which we donated to the Welcome Organisation in Belfast.”

Mary Lou said she was overwhelmed by the generosity of everyone who donated to the campaign.

“I can’t thank them enough. Their support will make a huge difference to people less fortunate than ourselves,” she added.

Centrepoint is the UK’s leading youth homelessness charity and supports 15,000 homeless young people a year.

It offers practical on-the-ground support to homeless people age 16-25, focusing on providing a safe place to stay and the building blocks for an independent life.