Students and staff at a Stevenage school slept outside to raise awareness and funds for young people in Hertfordshire affected by or at risk of homelessness.

The fundraisers from the town’s Nobel School slept in sleeping bags outside the entrance on Friday, and have smashed their original £500 charity target in aid of Herts Young Homeless – with the total now almost three times that.

Nobel head boy Jordan Dutt told the Comet the sleep-out had been “truly amazing”.

“From the initial stages of organising the logistics to working closely with the charity, liaising with the school and building the team of participants, this event was set to be successful – however, I would never have believed to this extent.

“The work Herts Young Homeless do is inspirational. It was for this reason we decided to support such a wonderful cause – along with the fact we were helping people, similar ages to us, in our own hometown.”

The team of 30 sixth-formers and staff raised their target to £800 on the morning of the event after reaching their original £500 goal. Within a few hours they put it up again to £1,000, which they reached within a few hours before setting a new goal of £1,500.

Donations for their cause, which Nobel sixth-formers have selected as their charity of the year, can still be made for the next three months.

Jordan said: “As head boy of the school, I wanted to bring together both years of sixth form, staff and the local community in a very exciting and active way while raising an amazing amount of money for charity.

“It has been a true honour to organise this event and raise this amount of money, knowing what a difference it will make.

“A comment made alongside one of the donations is one that I think sums up the event perfectly: ‘A nighttime for you is a lifetime for others.’”

Jordan added that he would like to thank the community, The Nobel School and all who had helped for their support – particularly the Gangnam Korean restaurant, Sainsbury’s in Poplars, Tesco in Mobbsbury Way, Aston Parish Bakery, the Pig and Whistle pub in Aston, Premier Stores in Oaks Cross, and the Debenhams branch of Nando’s.

If you’d like to find out more or support their fundraising, have a look at uk.virginmoneygiving.com/TheNobelSchool.