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Volunteers sleep rough for homeless

Regional Counselling and Mentoring Services Albany staff Jenny Williams, Stephen Yzerman and Sarah Law.

Members of a local not-for-profit organisation will brave the elements tonight, sleeping rough to raise funds for Albany's homeless people.

Regional Mentoring and Counselling Service Albany support worker and camp-out organiser Sarah Law said 11 staff members were inspired to take part in their first winter camp out after noticing a growing number of homeless people accessing their support services.

"The homelessness issue has increased, and the amount of people who are disadvantaged and marginalised in our community is growing," she said.

RMCS Albany runs a Swags for the Homeless program which involves distributing donated and purchased backpack swags to people who are turned away from crisis accommodation providers because there are not enough beds to meet demand. It distributed 17 swags in 2012, 28 last year and had given out 18 in the first six months of this year, which Ms Law said showed a growing need for affordable accommodation in Albany.

"With winter setting in the need has increased significantly and our homelessness fund is in desperate need of a boost so we can continue our work," she said.

Ms Law and 10 colleagues hope to raise $5000 through camping beside the Kalgan River in swags, with only a bowl of soup for dinner.

"We want it to be a genuine experience of homelessness to help us have more empathy for these people," she said.

"It is only one night for us, which is nothing compared to what they deal with every night."

Contact 9842 9699 to donate.