BRADFORD City fans have been urged to sleep out at their team’s stadium to raise funds for a charity that helps the homeless.

Sleep Out Bradford is looking for Bantams fans to swap their beds for a sleeping bag for one night to support Centrepoint.

The sleep-out event will be held at Valley Parade on Thursday, November 9, between 7pm and 7am, and include food, entertainment and an atmosphere to help revellers settle in to their night ahead.

Fans will camp out on the concourse of the Co-operative Stand, after the charity held a similar event at Bradford Bulls’ Odsal ground last year which raised £30,000.

Faye Edmondson, Centrepoint’s regional fundraising manager, said: “Sleep Out doesn’t try to replicate the true terror of spending a night on the streets with nowhere else to go, but it’s still a challenge – participants feel the cold and experience the discomfort which homeless young people have had to endure.

“This will be our fourth Bradford Sleep Out and it’s testament to how enjoyable an event it is that people keep coming back – but there’s a serious side to it.

“The money we raise will help support vulnerable and homeless young people in Bradford to gain the skills and confidence they need to find work or return to education.”

James Mason, Bradford City’s chief operating officer, who will be taking part in the event himself, said: “I would urge Bradford City fans to come and show their support for the charity and come along and join in with a number of our members of staff in taking part.

“It will give us a chance to show our solidarity with our friends in the city who find themselves without permanent accommodation.

“Holding it at that time of year will also give us a realistic understanding of what so many people will go through in their daily lives.

“We hope the event will help to raise the profile of the charity and its work and would urge people to take part.”

Centrepoint works with vulnerable homeless young people aged 16 to 25 in the Bradford district who have complex needs, including care leavers, former offenders, people with drug and alcohol issues and those with mild to moderate mental health issues.

It is the latest link-up between the charity and the Bantams after its fanzine editor donated a pair of the club’s season tickets to a homeless charity earlier this month.

Mike Harrison, editor of the City Gent, bought two the tickets for this season from excess funds donated to the fanzine.

The tickets were bought for £149 each under the Bantams’ Team Twenty pre-season tickets push, which has seen a total of 19,500 sold.

Mr Harrison contacted homeless charity Centrepoint, in Bradford, which will hand the tickets on a match-by-match basis to the people it helps.

Registration for the Valley Parade event opens on Friday. It includes an evening meal, breakfast and hot drinks and is £20 each.

The minimum sponsorship target is £200 per person. For more information, go to centrepoint.org.uk.