A charity sleep out has raised an incredible amount of money for a local homeless support group.

Dubbed a “Sleeproughathon” by its organisers, the charity sleep event raised £1,625 for Furness Homeless Support Group.

The event was held at Hawcoat Lane Sports Centre where partakers were entertained by The Northern Soul/Motown music followed by a night of camping in the Barrow wilderness.

Event organiser and mental health worker, Margaret Chadwick, called the night a fantastic success.

She said: "The Northern Soul/Motown music part of the night had a fantastic turn out with lots of donations for raffle prizes and everyone had a great night.."

Mrs Chadwick said she was spurred to get involved in charity fundraising after seeing alarming amounts of homeless people on city streets.

She said: "I remember going to Lancaster recently and seeing so many homeless people.

"After this I knew I wanted to get involved in some way but couldn't find a homeless charity which didn't stop at a certain age.

"In the future I would love to get involved in an even bigger camp out on a football pitch."

Mrs Chadwick, alongside her three companions, braved freezing conditions.

"The sleep out in the tent afterwards was hard going until 6 a.m, which hopefully highlighted the plight of those who have to endure worse conditions every night with no respite.

"Four people slept overnight: myself, Jolene Bromley, Melanie Gilmour and Stephen Newman.

"The Barrow Scouts Group were also fantastic in helping put all our tents down.

"The overall donation will hopefully help Furness Homeless Support Group to run their un-resourced Day Centre which provides a place for clients to have showers, food, a warm environment to turn to and to help prevent total isolation and providing essential support."

Deputy manager of the Furness Homeless Support Group, Christine Bainbridge, said: "A huge thank you to Margaret Chadwick and friends for their thought and effort that went into the event.

"The night that everyone slept out was horrendous but it means so much to us that people went above and beyond to raise funds."

To donate, visit here: https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/margaretchadwick1