St Vincent de Paul Society Australia genetic logo

The St Vincent de Paul Society offers over 200 services that help people in need.

Safeguarding

Find Help

Membership NSW

Volunteering NSW

Careers NSW

Join the Social Justice Network

Vinnies Service Medallion

Vinnies Youth NSW

Donations of goods and services NSW

Gifts in Wills

Philanthropy

Fundraise for Vinnies NSW

Clothing drives, toy collections and food hampers

Corporate partnerships NSW

Financial donations NSW

Sponsorship NSW

Cause related marketing campaigns NSW

Workplace giving - community support NSW

Vinnies and the Return and Earn Scheme

Vinnies Bag O Rags

Vinnies re/CYCLE range

Vinnies Used Cooking Oil Recycling (VUCOR)

Get involved

Get Involved

<h1>Vinnies Shops</h1>
Everything you buy or donate inspires change in your local community.

Vinnies Shops

Shops

Social Justice Statements

Reports and Submissions

Modern Anti-Slavery Statements

Reconciliation Action Plan

Uluru Statement Resources

Energy NSW

Disability Inclusion Action Plan

Advocacy

About us

Contact Us

History NSW

NSW Strategic Plan

Leadership NSW

Policies NSW

Mission and Formation

About Us

News and stories

NSW Media Releases

Vision Magazine

Impact Magazine

NSW Blog

Your Kind of Good Magazine

NSW Disaster Reports

NSW Annual Reports

News and Stories

| Vinnies

Home

ACT & surrounds

New South Wales

Northern Territory

Queensland

South Australia

Tasmania

Victoria

Western Australia

National Council

SVdP Housing Australia

Virtual Sleepout Will Support Tweed Homeless

Hosted for the past three years by Seagulls Club, the community sleepout for Vinnies homeless service Fred’s Place will be a live-streamed ‘virtual’ event this year due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Tweed Heads residents will join communities throughout the state in a series of linked-up NSW Vinnies Community Sleepouts on Friday 23 October. Supporters in regional NSW will bed down in their cars, backyards and couches to simulate the homeless experience and raise funds to support people experiencing homelessness.
“Previous sleepouts were a great success, and we greatly appreciate the support of Seagulls,” said Fred’s Place manager, Alysia Hopkins.
The ABS survey of 2016 found around 450 people were homeless in Tweed Shire, half of them ‘primary homeless’, meaning sleeping rough. The numbers have increased since then.
State MP for Tweed, Geoff Provest knows the extent of homelessness in the area and is a strong supporter of Fred’s Place community sleepout.
“COVID-19 has placed extra pressure on those who rely on Fred’s Place, and in turn greater demands on our services. So it’s more important than ever for us to maximise our fundraising.
“The virtual sleepout is a new way of doing things, and we hope to attract a lot of supporters who might not have been able to actually take a night off to sleep out.”

Rich Text

Image

The Tweed Heads event and 11 others around NSW will feature livestreams from participants sharing their experience. They follow the success of the virtual CEO Sleepout in June, which raised over $5.7 million to support Vinnies homelessness services.
Funds raised locally will be directed to Fred’s Place, which assists people experiencing hardship with food, medical assistance, bathroom and laundry facilities, free computer and phone access, housing support and referrals to essential services.
Vinnies NSW CEO Jack de Groot is urging regional communities to unite in a show of solidarity with locals experiencing or at risk of homelessness: “Between drought, bushfires and COVID-19 there are a lot of people unsure of when the tide will turn,” Mr de Groot said.
“We know around 40 per cent of people sleeping rough in NSW live outside major cities, while people with children are seeking specialist homelessness support at higher rates in regional and rural areas. With the funds raised from the NSW Vinnies Community Sleepout we’ll be able to continue assisting people doing it tough at a time when they need it most.”