Two familiar faces to Preston North End fans will be joining the Big PNE Sleep Out.
Leanne Naylor and Janet McDonald are no strangers to Deepdale.
They work as match-day supporter liaison officers and provide assistant to fans attending home games and also travel to the Lilywhite’s away matches.
Leanne and Janet are also big fundraisers having held several charity collections on the supporter coaches over the years.
They are now turning their attention to the Big PNE Sleep Out and say it was the story of PNE striker Louis Moult which grabbed their attention.
Leanne said: “We’ve worked on the coaches for North End over the years and collected quite a lot of money, probably over £1,000 a season for different charities.
“We saw the Big PNE Sleep Out advertised by Louis Moult and we sat down and chatted together and said, ‘Shall we give it a go?’ That was it, we just thought, ‘Let’s give it a go.’ It’s a good charity to support.”
The Big PNE Sleep Out is aiming to raise £50,000 for The Foxton Centre and their Housing First scheme.
Money raised will go towards purchasing a run down property in the city and doing it up as a place for rough sleepers to have a roof over their heads.
The Sleep Out is organised by the Preston North End Community Trust, Biffa, Blog Preston and The Foxton Centre working together in partnership.
Read more: Striker Louis Moult to make appearance at the Big PNE Sleep Out
With the Sleep Out fast approaching on Friday November 15 Leanne and Janet’s thoughts have turned to checking the weather forecast.
Leanne said: “I’m quite nervous, but we’re fortunate; we can go home and turn the heating and lights on. These people have to sleep like this every night. It’s not a party, far from it, it’s a serious night.
Janet added: “We’ll do it together as friends and we do a lot of things together as friends and this is a big thing for us to do this, to raise as much money as possible for these people who need this.”
You can donate to Leanne and Janet’s fundraising efforts through their Totalgiving page.
Kate and Ed from Blog Preston will be doing the Sleep Out, you can donate to support us here. We really appreciate your backing!
And you can make an overall donation to support everyone doing the Big PNE Sleep Out through the main Totalgiving page.
Read more: Medics, lawyers and accountants join the Big PNE Sleep Out