YOUNG Christians in Tonbridge experienced life in the slums over the bank holiday weekend to raise money for charity.
More than a dozen teenagers from St Stephen’s Church gave up luxuries like mobile phones, laptops, TV and hot showers for two days to raise awareness of the plight of the world’s poor. The event, dubbed Slum Survivor, saw the youngsters stay in cardboard constructions in the garden of the church from Saturday until Monday. Organiser Matt Rodgers, a youth worker at the church, said the event had been “brilliant”. “We wanted to do it as a way of bringing them all together,” he said, “and we were raising money for a charity called Soul Action.” Fifteen-year-old Jonny Payne, of Preston Road, took part in the challenge, which he described as “humbling” and a “tough experience”. He said: “I didn’t fully appreciate what I was letting myself in for. The four main things I had to struggle with were fatigue, boredom, hunger and being cold. “There wasn’t much to do. We found a half pumped up ball we amused ourselves with but that didn’t last long.”
As well as washing in a bucket shared between the whole group, Jonny said they lived on two small portions of lentils and rice a day and slept on concrete under a shelter made of pallets and tarpaulin.