Twelve students swapped their beds for sleeping bags, cardboard boxes and minus temperatures to take part in the event, which was held in the Students’ Union car park on Friday night. The event was organised by the University’s SCA (Student Community Action) group to fund raise for charity and increase awareness of homelessness.

All the money raised from Friday’s event will go to the Julian Trust Nightshelter, the homeless shelter in St Pauls, which provides the homeless with food and somewhere warm to sleep. The shelter is used by between 80 to 100 people every night. According to various surveys Bristol has one of the largest numbers of homeless people outside of London.

Leanne Miller, University of Bristol, SCA Nightshelter Project Co-ordinator, said: "I took part in the sponsored sleep-out because having worked at the shelter regularly for three years I have seen what great work is done there. The shelter is a voluntary organisation that relies solely on donations, so everything they are given goes directly to helping those in need.”