OUR Backyard is an initiative by Macquarie Life Church helping to provide a safe parking zone for people who are sleeping in their cars.

The zone is on the property of Macquarie Life Church on Macquarie Road in Cardiff and supports rough sleepers through hot showers, bathroom facilities, kitchen space, clean toilets, laundry facilities, WIFI and casework support.

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This initiative is utilised by individuals, couples and families all across the Hunter and Port Stephens regions.

Our Backyard is hosting a charity fundraiser ‘Night Under The Stars’ to raise money for the organisation so that it can continue to give back to the community.

Participants will sleep in their cars for the night to help the community better understand the challenges faced by the homeless members of our community.

Danielle Whyte, Management Team at Macquarie Care told News Of The Area about the fundraiser.

“Due to the ever-present danger of the Delta variant growing in Newcastle we have had to cancel the live event at Our Backyard on 21 of August.

“However, we are still planning on doing the sleepout, now at the participant’s homes, with the 7pm program now being an online streaming event.”

Night Under The Stars is an annual fundraising event, however due to the pandemic, there has been no fundraiser since 2019.

As a non-for-profit organisation, Our Backyard relies solely on donations from the community.

The event on 21 August can be streamed via Facebook or YouTube from 7pm, with more information found at:
http://www.macquariecare.org.au/events.html.

By Tara CAMPBELL