Two acclaimed artists, beaux and frontman of indie-pop band daydreamers, Riley, met with aspiring young musicians who have overcome homelessness at our Sleep Out event in London on November 13.
More than 70 people slept in a tent outside Museum of the Home in Hoxton to raise more than £68,000 for EveryYouth.
Talented young musicians, who have been supported by EveryYouth and its local Delivery Partners, dazzled participants with their intimate acoustic performances and spoken word poetry.
Among them was Patsy Nolan who travelled from Edinburgh especially to perform. She’s studying music at Edinburgh College after teaching herself to play guitar, drums and piano and sing. She is a huge fan of beaux and daydreamers and was thrilled to meet the UK artists and discuss her musical career aspirations with them.
“This has been the best day of my life, I will need a bit of time to process it,” she says. “I’m so grateful to EveryYouth for this opportunity and it was incredible to meet my musical inspirations and get some tips on how to build my career.”
beaux, who treated participants to a rousing performance of hit song Cut My Hair from his new debut album, I Thought We’d Live Here Forever, says: “I was so excited to come to the EveryYouth Sleep Out. I heard Patsy liked my music so I wanted to see her perform, hear her original music and come sing a couple of songs. It’s really important to be supporting such an amazing charity that is doing so much good work to help the youth, especially youth who are interested in music and the industry.”
beaux is a self-taught artist who started out posting covers on Vine and YouTube. He quickly gathered a large following and released his first EP in 2020 and his debut album earlier this year, with a sold-out UK tour kicking off in February.
Meanwhile daydreamers has risen rapidly since their debut single, Call Me Up, in April 2024. The band’s ‘Sad Euphoria’ sound has captivated listeners and earned them acclaim supported by BBC Radio 1 and MTV. They have headlined Camden Assembly, toured with Sea Girls, and played iconic venues like O2 Academy Brixton. Their summer included festival slots at The Great Escape, Latitude, TRNSMT, and Reading & Leeds.
“I’m so grateful to EveryYouth for this opportunity and it was incredible to meet my musical inspirations and get some tips on how to build my career.” – Patsy
Frontman Riley, who met Patsy before her performance, says: “I met Patsy who is a fan of Call Me Up and daydreamers and it’s a fun event to be a part of because being able to meet anybody that the music inspires or helps in any way is a meaningful thing for me. It’s exciting to have conversations about music.”
More than 118,000 young people presented as homeless to their local authority last year in the UK, and the number is likely to be much higher due to hidden and unreported homelessness, including sofa surfing.
Sleep Out is EveryYouth’s annual flagship fundraising event that challenges people from all walks of life to give up their beds to sleep outside while raising vital funds for some of the most marginalised young people in the UK. While Sleep Out doesn’t aim to replicate the experience of being homeless, it gives an insight into the anxieties of waking up somewhere unfamiliar.
This year teams from Taylor Wimpey, global recruitment agency Hays, global law firms Eversheds Sutherland and HSF Kramer, and Impax Asset Management were among participants took part in the event, which has raised more than £64,000 for EveryYouth to date.
The night included food, music and entertainment. Other performers included poet Surfing Sofas, who delivered stirring spoken word poems about homelessness and a blues/rock session from Tristan, who has been supported by EveryYouth’s partner the Rock Trust in Edinburgh.
