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Great Tommy Sleepout

Earlier this year, personnel from the Royal Gibraltar Regiment and family members of the MOD community braved a night out in The Convent gardens to take part in the Great Tommy Sleepout to raise money for the Royal British Legion Industries (RBLI). Those taking part helped raise crucial funds to support approximately 6,000 military veterans currently experiencing homelessness in the UK.

The evening involved a mixture of tasks, games and parent and child team bonding events. Participants, including 28 children from the MOD community, were tasked with building shelters for the evening from limited supplies found in the ‘rubbish collection’ area, with the top three shelters receiving a prize. The evening was rounded off with the telling of the Convent’s very own ghost story!

One of the winning shelters belonged to Mia and Callum, who had been joined for the evening by their grandmother Ms Jane Auld who works in the Warrant Officers and Senior Rates Mess. Ms Auld said: ‘From the bottom of my heart I thank all concerned. You are going to need a lot more boxes and sleeping bags next year as I’ll be bringing along my five grandchildren. Some experiences in life are tattooed on my heart and last night was one of those occasions. Thank you!”

Sergeant Aaran Ives who, with members of the MOD Community Support Team (CST), arranged the event said: “It has been a lot of hard work to get us here but with the help of Nicola Alexander and Davinia Baglietto and their team, I strongly believe we achieved the aims of both His Excellency The Governor and the Commanding Officer of the Royal Gibraltar Regiment - providing an event to raise awareness, raise money and allow parent and child to spend an evening, technology-free, in the beautiful gardens of the Convent.

The event has raised over £2,000 locally and they are still collecting. You can donate to the JustGiving page by clicking here:

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Aaran-Ives?utm_source=Sharethis&utm_medium=fundraising&utm_content=Aaran-Ives&utm_campaign=pfp-email&utm_term=78ad51c571424ac7b5c1ffe6a6f3893e

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to Royal British Legion Industries, so it's the most efficient way to give - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.