Lifewise Big Sleepout back after six years amid homelessness surge

The Lifewise Big Sleepout invites people to sleep rough on one of the coldest and longest nights of the year. Photo / Lifewise

• The Lifewise Big Sleepout fundraiser returns in July to address homelessness after a six-year hiatus.
• Funds raised will support Merge Café, providing food and services to rough sleepers in Auckland.
• Chief executive Haehaetu Barrett emphasised the event’s importance amid a 53% increase in rough sleeping.

A flagship fundraiser is returning after a six-year hiatus as advocates sound the alarm on homelessness.

The Lifewise Big Sleepout invites participants to raise money by sleeping outside on one of the coldest and longest nights of the year.

The title="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/where-do-the-dollars-from-big-sleepout-go/MHOS26IOXZMWV2ED6MJCQRJY74/">funds would go towards maintaining the organisation’s Merge Café on Karangahape Road supplying food and social services to rough sleepers.

The event was cancelled indefinitely in 2020 because of Covid but will be back in July and held at the AUT City Campus.

The event had become known for attracting celebrities, MPs, and business leaders from across the country.

Politicians such as Jacinda Ardern, David Seymour, and Chlöe Swarbrick had all taken part in the past.

Jacinda Ardern participated in the Big Sleepout in 2013 when she was a lesser-known Labour MP. Photo / Greg Bowker

Lifewise chief executive Haehaetu Barrett said the night was a time to experience the life hundreds of Aucklanders face.

“This year we want to be as authentic as we possibly can so you actually sleep rough, you’re given your cardboard, and the rest you have to bring in.”

The announcement came as Auckland faced an influx in the number of homeless – with some housing advocates blaming it on the Government’s harder line on Kāinga Ora tenants for disruptive behaviour and rent arrears.

In March, Auckland Council’s Community Committee urged the Government to step in after it recorded a 53% increase in the number of people sleeping rough in the city since September.

Barrett said the event is needed now more than ever.

“Back in 2014/15 our headcount was under 200, that was in the city, now you’re in the thousands.”

She said it included rough sleepers who weren’t as visible to the public but still accessed the organisation’s resources.

Barrett hoped the Big Sleepout’s return would smash all of its previous records.

“$350,000 was our biggest [result]. We’re hoping that New Zealand can support us. Our target is to get to that $1 million,” she said.

“We’ve had 100 [participants] in the past... we’re hoping to get double that.”

Sarah Trotman (left), has participated in every Big Sleepout and is the event's top fundraiser. Photo / Sarah Ivey

Waitematā local board member Sarah Trotman ONZM said she was “absolutely delighted” to hear the event was returning.

“It’s very easy to forget that people are living some pretty miserable lives out there.

“While you might spend one night having a fairly miserable time sleeping on the concrete, potentially in the rain and with the wind, it’s only one night, whereas there are hundreds of people who have a miserable night every night.”

Trotman, who’d participated in all nine previous Big Sleepouts and was its top fundraiser, said the event raised awareness, which hadn’t been felt since it paused.

“We have lost the attention of Joe and Jane Average on the issue,” she said.

“The issue needs to be front of mind for many Aucklanders – not just those that are working with people who are homeless at the moment.”

Jordan Dunn is a multimedia reporter based in Auckland with a focus on crime, social issues, policing and local issues. He joined Newstalk ZB in 2024 from Radio New Zealand, where he started as an intern out of the New Zealand Broadcasting School.