And now, from our ItAllSeemedMuchMoreFeasibleWhenISignedUpForItBackInEarlyMarch Department….

Something a little bit different this week. I want to tell you about something I’ll be doing soon, and invite you to consider me helping out, if there’s any chance you’re able to.

In a few weeks (actually on Thursday, May 21st, to be precise), I’ve signed up to “Sleep at the ‘G“, to help raise funds to combat youth homelessness.

This is an annual event organised by Melbourne City Mission, who do great work in this area. It involves spending the night at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (the “G”), and sleeping on its concrete floors in a sleeping bag, with only a collapsed cardboard box for a “mattress”. I took part last year, and although it could never equal the experience of sleeping rough on a regular basis, it gave me a much better understanding – and a deeper appreciation for – some of the hardships suffered by the many (far too many) people who find themselves homeless.

I’ve enrolled again this year, but as you’ve probably guessed, the event (which requires thousands of people to congregate in one place overnight) won’t be taking its usual form this time. All the sponsorship and fundraising pages are still open, and the ‘Sleep at the G’ folks still need donations. Perhaps now more than ever – as you can imagine, homelessness and COVID-19 are a deadly serious combination.

So I’ve decided that if I can’t sleep outside at the G on May 21st, the least I can do is sleep outside at home on that night. I’ll be out in our backyard in a sleeping bag, again with a cardboard “mattress”, and if there’s any chance you’re able to sponsor me or make a donation…. well, that would be wonderful. Of course, I don’t yet know what the weather will be like on that night, but last year it was frickin’ freezing!

As per last year, I have a fundraising page set up right here.

(The full URL is https://sleepatthegcommunity2020.everydayhero.com/au/stephen),

Every little bit really does count.

I will be posting some pictures up here after I’ve done it…

A) to prove that I have done it, and

B) to bring you a little bit of schadenfreude, to brighten your day.

… and that’s it for this week! Thanks for your time, and I’ll see you back here next week, with the next instalment of my exclusive interview with game show host Mark Humphries!

Until then, then.