MORE than 30 youngsters braved a chilly spring night to get a taste of sleeping out on the streets.

Young people from Blaze, a network of church youth groups from across south east Essex took part in the Slum Survivor, event, which also raised money for two good causes.

More than £400 has been pledged online, with organisers hoping the final total will be around the £1,000 mark.

The money will be shared equally between Southend YMCA and the charity Soul Action, which works in poor communities in South Africa, Zimbabwe and other countries.

The teenagers built their own “slum houses” from basic waste materials behind St Peter’s Church, in Eastbourne Grove, Westcliff for the event, which ran from 9 am last Saturday until 9am the following day.

They bought and ate simple food and walked miles to collect water, emulating people who live in slums around the world.

Even hard for some youngsters as a 24-ban on using mobile phones and other modern technology.

Samantha Dunlop, a church youth worker and one of the organisers said, “Slum Survivor aims to raise awareness about urban poverty and to aid the plight of the world’s poor.

“The young people sampled a little bit of what it’s like to live in slum conditions for 24 hours. It’s the way more than over a billion people worldwide spend their whole lives.”

Lucy Brown, youth leader at St Michael’s and All Angels Church, Westcliff said: “Sleeping on the cold, hard ground definitely made me appreciate my nice, warm bed, and how fortunate I am to have a house to live in.

“Being a youth worker often involves fun and games, but it’s great to do something really challenging sometimes. to teach us about life.

“Experiences like Slum Survivor are challenging, but they stay with you and I hope this will have helped all of us to count our blessings and have compassion for others.”

James Roffey, 12, from St Andrew’s Church, Westcliff, was one of the youngsters camping out. He said: “I really enjoyed it. It was hard and I can’t imagine having to live like this for more than one day. I’m looking forward tomy bed!”

David Elcock, community worker Leigh Road Baptist Church, said: “It was really good, with more than 30 young people taking part.

“It was tough, even though it was only 24 hours, but it made the young people appreciate what they have.”