Ashfield teenager braves sleeping in a tent for a month to help homeless

Fifteen-year-old Ruth Lamb has decided her latest challenge will help the homeless and a host of charities.

She is also raising money retired police dogs, mental health, women’s aid, neo-natal support, prostate cancer and end-of-life care.

The keen dancer is sleeping in the garden at her home for the whole of August and has set up Just Giving pages for eight charities – already raising about £18,000.

So far her mum Julie Lamb says she has encountered high winds, almost blowing away her tent, a midnight invasion by a hedgehog – which, in the dark, she thought was a rat – the cold, and lots spiders and creepy crawlies.

However, the The Christine Marsh School of Dance pupil is determined to see the challenge through to the end.

The Christine Marsh School of Dance pupil’s antics have also been featured on I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here page.

Julie Lamb, Ruth’s mum, said: “Ruth just wants to help people, but she thought sleeping out would be an especially good one to raise awareness of people who have no choice but to sleep outside because they don’t have a home.

"She is such a girly girl, so creepy crawlies and spiders are really not her thing at all! She has had a few frights, but she says she will really appreciate her bed when she gets through the challenge!

"Ruth is determined to keep it up until the end. She love helping people, whether its through her raffles, or dancing. We met a homeless chap on the street and it really bothered her, she wanted to do something to help.

"She was also keen to support a dog charity so we chose WAGS, based in Gloucestershire, which helps retired police dogs,helping pay for their care and vet bills.”

The full list of charities Ruth is fundraising is WAGS Gloucestershire, Prostate Cancer UK, Emily Harris Foundation, which supports neo-natal care at Kings Mill Hospital, the John Eastwood Hospice, MIND, Juno's Women's Aid and Freedom X, for the homeless.

To donate visit Julie Lamb’s Facebook page, with links to all the charities fundraising.

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