Parkstone Grammar students ‘become homeless’ to raise over £8,500 for YMCA

Poole-based girl’s school and sixth form, Parkstone Grammar has donated £8,576.45 to YMCA Bournemouth after students and teachers built their own cardboard shelters and set up camp outside the school for one night.

The fundraising event formed part of YMCA Bournemouth’s annual Sleep Easy events, where over £100,000 has been raised to date from schools, businesses, and local groups sleeping rough to help raise awareness of homelessness in Dorset.

Rosie Moore, Pastoral Head of Sixth Form at Parkstone Grammar commented: “It was fantastic to see more than 100 of our students and staff turn out to support our fundraising efforts. We believe we have a responsibility as a local organisation to support others who give so much back to our communities”.

YMCA Bournemouth also hosts a ‘BIG Sleep Easy’ event every year, with its next scheduled for 14th October 2023 to inspire simultaneous efforts among local businesses. Over the past five years, the ‘BIG Sleep Easy’ has seen donations total more than £100,000.

Sheena Dayman, Events Manager at YMCA Bournemouth added: “It’s wonderful to see local schools supporting our Sleep Easy initiative by hosting their own events and engaging their communities by encouraging donations.

“The funding raised from local Sleep Easy events helps us continue supporting those who are homeless by providing a temporary, safe place to live alongside a range of services including counselling, health, and fitness. Our goal is to help them achieve independent living and secure a safe, positive long-term future”.

More services and new look buses for Breezer routes

Local people and visitors wishing to travel across Dorset on some of the nation’s most picturesque bus routes can enjoy an exciting new family of Breezer services this summer.

Morebus is extending its popular Purbeck Breezer routes - with more open-top buses and a fresh new look planned.

“We’re very excited to be revealing our striking new family of Breezers. These new services are the result of a recent review of our offering here”, said Nikki Honer, Morebus head of communications. “We’ve listened to what our customers have told us they would like, in terms of bus services during the summer across Dorset, and we think they will be impressed by these changes.

“We are blessed with truly wonderful coastline and countryside here, and are expecting an exceptional number of visitors to the area for the summer season.”

The new routes include:

30/31 Jurassic Breezer (from 27 May)Swanage, Corfe Castle, Wareham, Lulworth Cove, Durdle Door, Weymouth.

60 Harbour Breezer (all year round but summer increase starts 27 May) - Rockley Park, Poole Quay, Poole, Sandbanks.

70 Beach Breezer From 27 May, extended to Rockley Park, Poole, Compton Acres, Alum Chine, Bournemouth, Boscombe Pier, Hengistbury Head

80 Beach Breezer (from 27 May) - Alum Chine, Bournemouth, Boscombe Pier, Hengistbury Head, Christchurch, Mudeford. Existing breezer routes

40 Purbeck Breezer - Poole, Wareham, Corfe Castle, Swanage.

50 Purbeck Breezer - Bournemouth, Sandbanks, Shell Bay, Studland, Swanage.

“Our Jurassic Breezer will be closed-top but will still offer spectacular views,” added Nikki

“And I’m delighted to say the Harbour Breezer and Beach Breezers will all be opentopped. We’re expecting these new-look services to be well-received by locals and visitors alike - with holidaymakers at Rockley Park also enjoying a significant increase in transport connections to all the gems on offer here.

“This is great news for families too, as our Harbour Breezer and Beach Breezer routes are all within zone A - with access to group dayriders.”