Why is Sleep Pod necessary?

Co-founder of the Sleep Pod Project, Pete Kenyon says “We have created an emergency aid for rough sleepers, sleeping out in severe cold wet weather conditions.”

• Sleep Pods are given to those most in need of protection from the elements as they sleep on the streets. We know from research that all too often people still die from hypothermia and exposure on the streets of the UK and we have designed the Sleep Pod to be a part of the solution to bring an end of this tragic issue. Since our inception in 2018 we have had a remarkable response to our one-person shelter and from all of the feedback we have received we know that in a Sleep Pod we have an effective and meaningful tool to help the most vulnerable people in our society who are sleeping rough and to protect them from the cold.                                                                                                                                                              
• We believe that this winter is likely to see an even greater rise in rough sleeping due to the extreme financial and employment crisis that the pandemic has caused. We are concerned that this winter our streets will see levels of homelessness never seen before. As a charity who build emergency aids for rough sleepers we believe that the demand for Sleep Pods is going to be huge, with this back drop we are undergoing a big fund raise and build project in order to try to fulfil the demand to the best of our abilities.                                                                                  
• Since 2018 we have tested our design and materials and refined our processes to run builds powered by volunteers in order to build nearly 3,000 Sleep Pods. In relation to their distribution, we work in partnership with groups and charities who are experts in the issues of rough sleeping and who distribute the Sleep Pods with the benefit of local knowledge and expertise. This helps to ensure they are distributed to the right people - those that most need them and that will use them and benefit from them. When we partner with a new organization, we explain that a Sleep Pod is not a long-term solution, it is to be seen as an emergency shelter to be handed out as part of a wider process to help the rough sleeper access professional services to support them in finding a more permanent solution.

“We have aligned ourselves with groups offering much needed support to rough sleepers.”        Justin Devereux, Co-founder of the Sleep Pod Project.

Photo Credit: Nadia Porter

Who are we

• Our greatest priority is to support short term and entrenched rough sleepers to stay warm as they sleep on the streets before they are able to access professional services and assistance and a more permanent solution to their homelessness. We have now developed relationships with in excess of 40 organisations/charities across the UK and Europe who we are working with in relation to the distribution of Sleep Pods. 

Photo Credit: Mo Nawaz 

• The Sleep Pod Founders, Ian, Justin and Pete met while they were volunteering in refugee camps in Europe in 2016. Through these shared experiences they were driven into action and designed the Sleep Pod to help prevent unnecessary deaths on our streets. After a lengthy design process, field tests and feedback from users the Sleep pod is now ready to be built on mass and distributed where ever it is needed.

• We believe Sleep Pod is one way everybody can make a contribution and know that it will make a difference. We are a small team of friends who are heavily dependent on the support of our volunteers to help fund raise and build new Sleep Pods at volunteer workshops.

What is a Sleep Pod

Sleep Pods are an emergency aid for rough sleepers in severe weather conditions. They are built to help protect rough sleepers.

Sleep Pods are an emergency aid built to help keep people warm and dry.

Sleep Pods are:

• Insulated Self-Warming

• +6°C inside when -16°C outside

• Rainproof

• Windproof

• Quick and Easy to Use

• Lightweight, Easy to Pack and Carry

• 1 Sleep Pod costs £30.00

• Easy to make, made by teams of volunteers.

How you can help

We believe that this winter will see unprecedented numbers sleeping rough and, in consultation with our partners who work directly with rough sleepers across the UK and refugees across Europe, we are very concerned to ensure that we have enough stock of Sleep Pods to distribute at the start of this winter. 

The big push this year is to build 10,000 Sleep Pods. We need all the help we can get to raise the funds to make this possible.

Due to Coronavirus we're thinking of new ways we can build Sleep Pods. During these difficult and uncertain times, we believe that people feel even more unable to “do their bit” than ever before. We believe that the “build at home” campaign can help to address this. 

Please donate to the project and share link with your friends and family. Thanks for supporting Sleep Pod.