Everton fans are being given one final opportunity to brave the elements and spend the night at the Goodison Park Sleepout in 2024 as part of the club's annual charity event. The sleepout has been a fixture in the club's fundraising calendar since 2015, is put on by Everton in the Community but this year will be the final one at Goodison Park as the club prepares to move stadiums in the summer of 2025.
The date for this year's Goodison Park sleepout has been pencilled in for Friday, 11 October and fans can register their interest in attending now. It costs £25 to secure a place at the sleepout and all funds gained go directly to Everton in the Community's ‘Home is Where the Heart Is” programme which aims to combat homelessness and poverty in Liverpool.
Fans are then able to make more money through sponsors for completing the sleepout and the charity have a special challenge this time, given that it is the final one at Goodison Park. They have tasked all participants to raise £1 for each of the 132 years the team has played at Goodison. It is unclear at this stage whether the event will continue at Everton's brand new stadium that is currently under construction on the docks in Liverpool.
How the Goodison Park sleepout has evolved over the years
The event first launched in 2015 as a “CEO sleepout” where board members took part in the sleepout to raise funds for charity. A year later, David Unsworth (then the club's u23 manager) joined the cause with his under-23 squad, and they took part in the sleepout for three years until 2019.
By that point, the club had raised enough money to purchase a four-bedroom residential house which has gone on to be used by Everton in the Community to launch the aforementioned ‘Home is Where The Heart Is” programme.
In recent years, the Everton Women's first team have taken part which has helped to raise significant sums of cash for the charity. In total, money earned from all of the Goodison Park sleepouts has resulted in the prevention of 62 young people in Liverpool falling into homelessness.
The charity helps young, at-risk people in Liverpool by providing them with a safe space to stay and offering them tailored outreach support. This includes support with education, training and employment to ensure they can get back on their feet and stay off the streets.
An emotional farewell
Over the next 18 months, you can expect plenty of emotional goodbyes to Everton's famous old stadium before they move down the road to Bramley Moore Dock. The sleepout in October 2024 is certainly one of those and fundraising manager, Sarah Hunter, has spoken about how it has the potential to be the most special sleepout yet. She said:
“This year’s Goodison Sleepout is certainly going to be an emotional one, marking the final time our supporters will be able to come together to celebrate one of the charity’s most significant fundraising events.
“The wonderful support we have received from the sleepout’s loyal following over the years has been truly overwhelming, and we hope they’ll all be joining us again in October – along with new faces – for what will be the last opportunity to take part at Goodison Park.”