With its bright blue muralled wall on the thoroughfare of Darlinghurst's Victoria Road, it's hard to miss the Rough Edges café. Since it opened in 1996, Rough Edges has established itself as a stalwart of the local community, serving the inner city's homeless and marginalised communities through a nightly meal service, as well as community outreach programs like counselling, legal assistance and domestic violence assistance through its Banksia Women program.
Like many events which have been forced to innovate under physical distancing, Rough Edges is changing up its annual sleepout fundraiser a little this year. Instead of gathering together to sleep outdoors on the church grounds for a night, groups can take on the Roughtober challenge in their own ways.
On the night of October 30, choose your own spot to camp out for the night in order to raise awareness and money for homelessness. Groups and individuals have already signed up to sleep on balconies, backyards and car parks. You can register online.
If you're not ready to brave a night outdoors, but you still want to suport the cause, you've got some options. Grab a 'Darlo Darlings' cocktail at Darlo Bar, of which 50c from each drink will be donated to Roughtober, or the cocktail of the month at L'il Darlin, of which $1 will go to the cause. if you'd like to peace out this weekend, Kindness Café is hosting a yoga and meditation class with a buffet-style lunch on Saturday, October 3 – and all proceeds will suport Roughtober.
Have you heard? Sydney's streets will be transformed into outdoor dining spaces this summer.