A GROUP of youngsters will be leaving their luxuries at home and spending the weekend sleeping rough.

From 2pm today until lunchtime on Sunday, 17 youngsters aged between ten and 15 will be living in makeshift shelters outside St Augustine's Church, in St Augustine's Avenue, South Croydon.

They will have no possessions other than the clothes they arrive in, and will have to earn money for food and drink through challenges such as making their own shelters and washing cars.

The church's vicar, the Reverend Bill Warren, said: "St Augustine's is involved in the Croydon Churches Floating Shelter, which offers food and shelter to homeless people from November to March and helps move them into permanent accommodation. Our young people wanted to know more about homelessness and, as they are too young to help with the shelter, we set them this 'slum survivor' challenge.

"This way they can experience first-hand what it is like to live with nothing, as many millions of children around the world do."

To find out how the youngsters got on see next week's Advertiser