This year marks 25 years of impact for Second Chance Programme (SCP), a Queensland-based charity that works to place women and children beyond homelessness. Since its founding, SCP has distributed over $2 million into direct support services - from emergency housing to food, removal costs, rent assistance, and shelter infrastructure - across rural, regional, and urban Queensland.
At UQ School of Architecture, Design and Planning (ADP), we’re proud to have stood alongside SCP for more than a decade through the annual Sleepout for Homelessness, an initiative first proposed by architecture academic Katy Moir, with long-term support from Dr Kelly Greenop and UQ’s School of Architecture. Since 2014, the event has brought together the architecture and design community to raise funds, awareness, and solidarity.
In that time, more than $425,000 has been raised by students, professionals, practices, and supporters - a tangible show of how collective action can change lives. Now in its 14th year, the 2025 Sleepout invites the UQ community, our alumni, and partners to help us reach a new milestone: $25,000 for 25 years of SCP’s funding of frontline work.
Join Us
The 2025 Sleepout will take place on Tuesday 12 August (the night before the Ekka public holiday), hosted at Third Space Collective in Woolloongabba - a return to the community-driven atmosphere that has shaped the event from the beginning. Participants can choose to sleep indoors or in their cars, and as always, the focus is on participation, connection, and shared commitment to a better future.
As part of this year’s program, a co-housing workshop focused on solutions for older women at risk of homelessness will also be offered in partnership with Housing Older Women (HOW), highlighting the growing need for design-led responses to housing insecurity.
“This event has always been powered by people - by practices and individuals who step up, fundraise, and show solidarity,” says UQ Adjunct Lecturer, Mr Michael Dickson, event coordinator and long-time supporter. “It’s about doing what we can, where we are, with the skills and networks we have.”
Why It Matters
Second Chance Programme works quietly and effectively, with no government funding, minimal overheads, and every dollar raised going directly to support for women and children escaping domestic violence, experiencing housing stress, or at risk of homelessness. It’s local. It’s transparent. And it makes a difference.
“We continue to support Second Chance because of their integrity and the scale of impact they’ve had for 25 years,” Dickson said. “As architects and educators, we believe in designing for equity - and this is one way to put that belief into practice.”
How You Can Help
- Start a team via the Sleepout 2025 Grassrootz page
- Nominate a sleeper from your team to participate on the night
- Fundraise within your practice or network - every contribution counts
- Join the conversation around design, housing justice and community action
Whether you're part of a practice, a UQ student, an alum, or someone in the built environment who believes in fairness and dignity for all - we invite you to get involved.
Together, we can mark 25 years of powerful work by reaching $25,000 in 2025, and ensure the conversation around housing insecurity continues to include architects, planners, designers, and the wider UQ community.
Details:
Sleepout for Homelessness 2025
When: Tuesday 12 August – Wednesday 13 August
Location: Third Space Collective, 109 Norman Street, Woolloongabba
Contact: Michael Dickson | m.dickson@uq.edu.au | 0405 000 458
Fundraising link - create or support a team: https://second-chance-programme-fundraising-group-inc.grassrootz.com/sleepout-for-homelessness-2025
