How our homeless benefit from Splendour in the Grass

Campers at Splendour in the Grass have shown their generosity by helping to tackle one of the Northern Rivers' greatest social issues.

CAMPERS at Splendour in the Grass have shown their generosity for the fifth year in a row, tackling one of the Northern Rivers greatest social issues. Picture: Marc Stapelberg

CAMPERS at Splendour in the Grass have shown their generosity for the fifth year in a row by helping to tackle one of the Northern Rivers' greatest social issues.

Hundreds of camping items including tents were donated by festival-goers last weekend to not-for-profit group, Momentum Collective, to be distributed to rough sleepers across the region.

This year's collection is being hailed as the biggest since the initiative began in 2015.

Sarah Walker is the brains behind the initiative and came up with the idea after many years of camping at the festival herself.

Ms Walker said she was thrilled about the amount of equipment which was donated this year and thankful for the support her group had received from other organisations.

"I've seen a lot of good camping gear left behind by festival-goers and decided to set up a way to collect and donate the goods to people in need,” she said.

"We have more volunteers each year and more socially aware campers are leaving their gear packed up and ready to be re-homed.

"Our Australian Disability Enterprise team, with volunteers from Momentum Collective and Social Futures, collects the donated equipment in a truck and makes sure it's clean and in good condition for the new owners.”

Hundreds of camping items including full tents have been donated to help rough sleepers in the Northern Rivers. Picture: Contributed

The donations come at a critical time for the region, which has a disproportionate number of rough sleepers compared to the rest of NSW.

Momentum Collective CEO Virginia Walker said while the camping gear would be put to good use, more needed to be done help people affected by homelessness in the region.

"The Northern Rivers region of NSW only represents four per cent of the NSW population, yet we have 18.7 per cent of the state's rough sleepers,” she said.

"We are seeing more and more people displaced because of the housing affordability crisis in the region and we're committed to working with all levels of government and other organisation to find a long-term solution to this growing problem.”