Photo Credit: Cricket Australia
Some of Australia’s most loved cricketers and stars of the past will not be sleeping in their own beds this Sunday night in the hope that their efforts will change the lives of the thousands of homeless youth who do not have a safe bed to sleep in at night.
Cricket Australia is throwing its support behind The Chappell Foundation’s Sports Stars Sleepout, with the event being moved to balconies, backyards and couch hopping due to the current pandemic restrictions in New South Wales.
Australian captain Meg Lanning is on board to help The Chappell Foundation to bring up a century and hit its target of $100,000, with funds raised going directly to a variety of essential youth services including Back Track Youth Works, WAYS, Stepping Stone House, Ecumenical Coffee Brigade, Raw Potential and Taldumande Youth Services.
Lanning will be virtually joined by wicket keeper/batter Alyssa Healy and Tassie Tigers’ trio Molly Strano, Elyse Villani and Nicola Carey.
Annabel and Will Sutherland will spend a night in their garage along with their father James, while former stars Matthew Hayden, Ed Cowan, Mitchell Johnson, Greg Chappell and Trevor Chappell have already been strong contributors to fundraising which has already surpassed $32,000.
Johnson, who’ll dial in from Western Australia, said it was his own experience which motivated him to participate.
“A lot of Australians are doing it tough at the moment, but homeless kids do it tough all the time,” he said.
“Me and my little brother were lucky, but I know what it’s like to bounce around from home to home, parent to parent.
“It is so easy for it all to fall apart,” he said.
The Chappell Foundation is a volunteer organization that was founded in 2017 by Greg Chappell and has raised almost $4m to support homeless youth. The foundation and Sleepout event is now spearheaded by Cricket Hall of Famer Lisa Sthalekar.
You can see the full list of participants and fundraising updates here: www.sportsstarssleepout.com
