Peckham woman warming homeless hearts with life-saving sleep pods as temperature goes sub-zero – Southwark News

A Peckham woman is handing out free potentially life-saving ‘sleep pods’ to homeless people across Southwark.

With temperatures set to drop below freezing over the coming days, Lisa Pearson, founder of young people’s charity Let the Youth Live, has distributed roughly 40 insulated shelters. 

The foldable structures are rain and wind-resistant, lightweight, easy to assemble, and available at £30 per pod.

Lisa Pearson said: “Some of them have places to go but it’s not always permanent it might only be a few days a week.

Sleep Pods are insulated and wind and water resistant. Credit: Sleep Pod

“In this freezing cold weather, they really appreciate it. They’re like: ‘Oh my god this is brilliant’. I show them a video of how to put them up and pack them away or we’ll do a demonstration so they know what to do. 

“The fact is that they could keep someone alive as it’s so bitterly cold out there.”

Lisa is already known locally for her work installing bleed control kits across the borough.

The publically-accessible emergency equipment can be used to treat people suffering serious blood loss from traumatic injuries, including from car accidents and stabbings. 

Lisa is now working with Sleep Pod, an organisation providing emergency shelters to stop homeless people dying from exposure. 

Co-founders Ian Ashby, Justin Devereux and Pete Kenyon met while volunteering in refugee camps in Europe in 2015. 

Shocked to realise people in the UK were suffering in similar conditions, they founded Sleep Pod in 2018. 

A homeless person receives their Sleep Pod

The duo designed the Sleep Pods themselves, over 5,000 of which have since been distributed to people across the UK and Northern France. 

Lisa Pearson said she an honourary doctorate from the American University of Global Peace for her community work in November.

Get involved with Sleep Pod UK by clicking this link.

She said she was nominated by retired Croydon boxer and political activist Winston McKenzie.

The ceremony was held at St Ermins Hotel, Westminster, on Saturday, November 9. 

Lisa said: “It was really nice they spoke a lot about all the work I’d been doing… it was such a lovely event and it was really nice to be recognised for what I’m doing.”

Image Credits and Reference: https://southwarknews.co.uk/area/peckham/peckham-woman-warming-homeless-hearts-with-life-saving-sleep-pods-as-temperature-goes-sub-zero/