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Every person sleeping rough in Bristol this winter could soon have their own life-saving thermal sleep pod - thanks to an incredible project co-ordinated by the citys music scene.

Top names from bands like Portishead and Idles are among those who have pitched in to fund and develop a new invention called a Sleep Pod, which should stop anyone on the streets freezing as the winter chill descends.

Some 400 of the new inventions - which were developed as a result of a team of volunteers efforts to help refugees and migrants in the Calais Jungle a few years ago - have been brought to Bristol.

And now they will be gradually distributed to the homeless in the city, and Bath and Weston-super-Mare, from this week and into the coming weeks and months.

The project was the brainchild of a group of people who put their normal lives on hold when the European Migrant Crisis hit in 2015 and 2016 and headed to northern France to feed, clothe and look after the welfare of thousands of people who were trying to reach Britain.

Many were from Bristols vibrant music and nightlife scene, with people in bands and those who run venues and pubs joining forces.

That relief effort spawned the Bristol-based charity Aid Box Community, and now one of the lasting legacies from that relief effort is going to be seen on the streets of Bristol.

Some of the team worked on a cheap and easy way to keep people sleeping out in the open warm in cold nights - and developed the sleep pod to take over to the Jungle in Calais.

Now, a fundraising drive to get together 10,000 to buy 400 Sleep Pods has been successful.

Much of the cash comes from a charity fundraiser music event being staged on December 12 called Give a Sh** Xmas, which has already sold out. It features Idles and Beak, the band of Portisheads Geoff Barrow, and is being put together by the leading figures of Bristols music and festival scene, the people behind Love Saves the Day, Boomtown, Shambala and other venue owners.

Joby Andrews, a director of pub and venue chain Refresh the West, said: This is a truly Bristol collaboration of people who recognise there is a homeless crisis in our city and have come together with an emergency measure to stop people dying on the streets this Christmas.

We recognised there is a homeless emergency in Bristol. The amount of rough sleepers you see on the streets these days has just exploded in the last few years, due to cuts in services.

Some friends of ours who we met when we were volunteering in refugee camps invented the Sleep Pod, which is an emergency measure to stop people dying on the streets, he added.

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Faced with a 10,000 bill for making the idea of 400 Sleep Pods a reality for those on the streets, Bristols leading lights of the music scene stepped up.

Tom Friend, who runs Friendly Records in Bedminsters North Street, was one who set up a fundraising drive called Give a Sh** Xmas to raise money each Christmas, and pulled together Bristols bands to get involved this year.

If Tom Friend was the Bob Geldof for Bristols homeless, then the likes of Idles, Beak and Babyhead were the U2, Phil Collins and Wham!

All the bands stepped up to play the fundraising gig, and Beaks Geoff Barrow, Idles Jon Beavis and Tom Mauger from Babyhead were there to see the fruits of their efforts arrive in Bristol on Tuesday.

Weve been overwhelmed by the response to this years gig there is so much support from the local community in supporting people who have nowhere to live and we all have a role to play, said Tom Friend.

In particular, where people cannot access a safe nights respite this is particularly desperate. When we heard about the drive to bring 400 Sleep Pods to Bristol, we knew we had to support it alongside our other amazing charities and hope as many people can get involved in the build as possible, he added.

Joby Andrews said some of the organisers of Bristols huge festivals also got involved.

We pulled together all our resources from festivals and businesses, and pubs and the music industry in Bristol, raised enough money to make 400 of them, so were going to try and get one to every rough sleeper in Bristol, Bath and Weston this winter, to stop anybody dying of exposure on the streets, said Joby Andrews.

Give a S*** Xmas has stepped in at the last minute to help us raise the extra funds we needed to get the 400 sleep pods down here from where they are made in Birmingham, so we are particularly grateful to them.

We really need people now to come and help us build the pods and get them out to people who have nowhere else to go over the festive period, he added.

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Homeless charities in Bristol are now going to co-ordinate the distribution of the pods.

Shada Nasrullah from Feed the Homeless Bristol, said the sleep pods would save lives.

I think they are going to be really vital for the rough sleeping homeless community in Bristol over the winter, she said.

Feed The Homeless Bristol are one of a number of charities that go out to feed and help the rough sleepers in Bristol. Its teams go out twice a week, and the numbers they help are growing - up to 120 each night, with another dozen or so in Weston.

A large proportion of those are rough sleeping, so they are out on the streets in all elements, just protected with a sleeping bag if they are lucky.

They are very vulnerable and are exposed to the health risks in those sorts of conditions.

The Sleep Pod is going to give them some sort of protection from those elements.

"The levels of rough sleepers are increasing and those who are on the streets will die younger because of the impact this has on their health, she added.

Not only are rough sleepers more susceptible to illness and infections, they're also having to deal with our harsh winters. Having somewhere warm and dry to sleep will save lives and improve the quality of life for some of the most vulnerable people in our community, she said.

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Read more from the original source:
The remarkable way Bristol's music scene is saving the lives of the homeless this winter - Bristol Post