A St Albans school raised £3,000 for a homeless charity by sleeping out in the cold.

Herts Advertiser: St Albans' St Columba's College raised £3,000 with an annual Homeless Sleepout. Picture: St Columba's CollegeSt Albans' St Columba's College raised £3,000 with an annual Homeless Sleepout. Picture: St Columba's College (Image: Archant)

About 200 pupils, staff and parents took part in the annual Homeless Sleepout at St Columba’s College in aid of Open Door, a local charity night shelter and daytime drop-in.

They spent the night outside in sleeping bags and on cardboard for one night.

Sixth Form pupils took a major role in organising the event, which included activities and workshops to highlight the hardships of rough sleeping.

Headmaster David Buxton said: “Homelessness is a growing problem which we encounter daily on our streets.

“The scale of the response to the homeless sleepout demonstrates the very strong community spirit and empathy of the college community.”

The money raised was enough to run the washing facilities at Open Door for six months.