Around 100 people braved a long, chilly night in the open air at the Eden Project last Thursday to help raise funds for homeless people.

They grabbed as much rest as they could lying on hard ground in sleeping bags under an awning in front of the Eden Biomes.

Sleep Out is a nationwide event organised by the End Youth Homelessness campaign (EYH), a national partnership of grassroots charities and companies.

The aim of the fourth annual Sleep Out at Eden is to raise funds and generate awareness for two South West charities, St Petroc’s Society which helps single homeless people in Cornwall, and the Amber Foundation which has three centres helping young people across the South and South West of England.

The charities say that the numbers of people who find themselves homeless increases every year.

Representatives of the two charities and some of the people they help joined fund-raising volunteers in the mass gathering at Eden.

Before bedding down the Sleep Out participants enjoyed a lively evening of entertainment from the Suzie Mac Trio and duo Dew Barf. The volunteers also took part in a masterclass in bread-making led by the Eden chefs and listened to a bed-time story around the fire-pit.