Ospreys ‘Nestless Night Out’ raises funds for Swansea children’s charity

An evening of rugby, auctions, presentations from Action for Children’s staff and young people while celebrating the partnership concluded with 40 people braving a very wet and windy Friday night sleeping outside. 

The hardy souls were helping OitC raise £25,000 to sustain their recently launched “On Target” Programme.

Ospreys in the Community launched their first sleepout in 2019, raising £22,000. Since the 2019 sleepout, Action for Children and OitC have supported over 3000 young people’s mental health, helping them to build resilience and coping strategies.

On Target is an internationally acclaimed wellbeing programme delivered by Action for Children supported by Ospreys in the Community for young people aged 13-19. Over six weeks, it teaches emotional resilience and reduces low mood and anxious thoughts. Crucially, it gets teenagers talking.

Tom Sloane, Community Foundation Manager for Ospreys in the Community, said: “It was great to bring everyone in the partnership together to celebrate the work we all do for the young people in our region.  We have raised over £15,000 so far and there’s more money to come so we’re delighted with the fundraising effort by everyone in the partnership.  It was a cold and damp night but we never forgot why we were sleeping out.  These vital programmes have helped our community through a very tough couple of years and we still find ourselves in a difficult economic crisis so the support is needed more than ever.”

Anne Pritchard, Finance Director for Philtronics added: “I’m really proud of our Philtronics team – we’ve raised £9,500 so far through raffles and individual just giving pages.  It’s brought the 12 of us really close together and tonight has just been a celebration of the work we’ve done in the past five years with Action for Children in partnership with Ospreys in the Community.  Hearing from the young people we’ve helped tonight made it real and brings it home.  People don’t always appreciate the struggles youngsters have these days so helping them with their mental health is massive for us and a continuing effort to support Action for Children.”

Caryl Dyer, Caryl Dyer, South Wales Service Co-ordinator at Action for Children said: “It was an absolutely fantastic night and great to see so many people join us in sleeping out in challenging weather conditions!  The commitment Ospreys in the Community and Philtronics have shown towards improving the mental health of our young people has been immense and it’s been a privilege to work with them.

“Programmes such as On Target have a significant impact on our young people’s wellbeing.  They enable our young people to understand mental health, develop some coping strategies and know where and when to look for help. We cherish our partnership with Ospreys in the Community and Philtronics and how it shapes better mental wellbeing for our young people in the Ospreys region.”

Lead image: Ospreys stars Sam Parry and Gareth Anscombe with young people Mackenzie (left) and Mackenzi (Image: Action for Children)