Strictly's Camilla sleeps rough for charity

For seven series of Strictly Come Dancing, Camilla Dallerup entertained us with her talented choreography. Who can forget the dramatic Tango she did with James Martin, where she was the doll and he was the toymaker to Mein Herr from Cabaret or the broadway themed Showdance she put together for Tom Chambers?

Last night she and her fiance, Hollyoaks actor Kevin Sacre slept rough in Hatfield to raise money and awareness of homelessness. Their Twitter feeds tell the story of their very cold night on the streets.

Around one in the morning, Camilla asked:

How do homeless people cope in this cold? They don't even have thr warm clothes we have.

When I retweeted this, Andrew Hickey, who blogs here, replied:

Unfortunately homeless people *don't* cope in the cold. Talked to one the other day who said two friends of his had died of exposure and he'd been hospitalised with hypothermia himself.

I've said before, it shocks me to the core that in this day and age, in one of the most affluent countries in the world, people have to sleep outside. Surely we should be able to provide a roof over everyone's head, a space that they can call their own.

Camilla and Kevin weren't the only ones sleeping rough last night. Westmorland and Lonsdale Lib Dem MP Tim Farron joined an event in the frozen north at Kendal Castle where the temperature was -6. Thanks to local Cllr Chris Hogg for alerting me to that via the wonders of Twitter.