YORK City Football Club Foundation is helping the homeless by supporting a sleepout event.

The CEO Sleepout in York, on April 11, will see business people from the local area swap their suits for sleeping bags as they bed down for a cold night outside to raise funds to fight poverty and homelessness in the city.

The foundation is helping the CEO Sleepout charity to arrange the event and host it at Bootham Crescent.

In addition, two members of its team - foundation manager Paula Stainton and trustee John McGhee - will be taking part in the event, which is in its second year.

The foundation has been campaigning around the issues of homelessness in the city since late 2017.

It has been involved with collections for warm clothing and sleeping bags, with support from fans with their own fundraising.

York City Football Club Foundation has also worked with the groups which support homeless people in York.

Ms Stainton said: “Figures from Homeless Aid UK highlight a 170 per cent increase in homelessness over the last two years. The rising number of rough sleepers and homeless people in our city is evident when you are out and about in the city centre. We have been blown away by what is taking place locally by volunteer-led groups, and hope that our efforts will not only raise funds to support organisations like KEY (Kitchen for Everyone York), but also raise awareness of the scope of their efforts. There is a joined up approach across the city with groups such as Carecent, HOPING, Lunar Project, Food not Bombs and so many more.”

The work of the foundation has been aided by their community sponsors, Benenden Health, who "have shown their full commitment to tackling this issue".

Four chief officers from the York-based healthcare provider are taking part in the sleepout event and Benenden has awarded the foundation a grant to enable the purchase of sleeping bags and food pallets.

The aim is to establish more initiatives where people living on the streets can exchange their sleeping bags for clean ones, like the scheme created in partnership with Acomb-based Chill in the Community last year.

The food pallets bought through the Benenden Health grant will support the foundation’s Holiday Hunger project, combatting food poverty for families in school holidays.

Emma Keef, corporate social responsibility and engagement coordinator at Benenden Health, added: “We are proud to support the foundation’s work with the homeless and vulnerable across York. By working together we can help make a positive difference to peoples lives.”

A report published in The Press found that rough sleeping had increased rapidly in York with 29 rough sleepers identified in the annual count in 2017 compared with nine in 2013