Stratford 75-year-old who swapped his bed for a charity sleep-out

AS a Stratford ghost tour guide, Ernie Boxall is used to spooky places – so spending the night in the courtyard of notoriously haunted Tudor World in Sheep Street shouldn’t have terrified him too much.

Ernie, 75, had the extra motivation of doing it for a good cause – he did the fundraiser for the worthy veteran charity initiative, the Great Tommy Sleep Out.

He undertook the chilly sleepover on Tuesday night (18th March), right after taking his last tour for the evening.

He told the Herald: “I swapped my bed for a sleeping bag to raise vital funds and awareness for veterans who are experiencing homelessness in the UK right now. With every penny raised, Royal British Legion Industries can provide safe, warm housing and ensure everyone has a fair opportunity to gain employment, regardless of health conditions or disability.”

The charity is an entirely separate organisation to the Royal British Legion that oversees local branches – such as the one in Stratford.

Ernie can identify with veterans who find themselves in troubled times. His father was in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment during the Second World War; and Ernie himself was homeless at one point – and lived in a tent in the woods.

Explaining a bit about his life, Ernie said: “Towards the last years of my father and mother's lives the legion were very supportive.

“Then after he died, and as my father’s coffin was laying in the church before it was being cremated, six members of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment stood around the coffin in uniform.

“I thought that if he was looking down it would be one of the proudest moments of his life.”

As well as thinking of his dad, Ernie had in mind homeless veterans he has encountered.

“Two years ago, I was homeless and sleeping in a tent. There is a group called Helping Hands in Leamington and they were a great help. I met one or two other veterans who were sleeping on the street as well.”

Recalling of how he became homeless, Ernie said: “I got a letter from the pension credit people to say that apparently I’ve been receiving too much pension credit for two years. It panicked me. So I left where I lived and went and slept in a tent in a woods in south Warwickshire. I actually loved the freedom of it.”

In the end, Ernie found out the letter had been sent in error, and he is now back living in a housing.

“Hopefully my sleep out on Tuesday will help veterans like the ones I’ve met along the way.”

Janet and John Ford, who run Tudor World, are also donating money to the cause in the name of former staff member Amy Louise James. The young mum was only 35 when she recently died.

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