After a pause for five years the Big Sleepout - an event aimed at raising awareness and funds to tackle homelessness - is back.
Tonight, leaders from the business and community sector will be spending a night sleeping rough to highlight the cause and get a first hand understanding of homeless.
The event is run by Lifewise, an Auckland based social development organisation, and is being reinvigorated as the number of homeless people on the city's downtown streets is on the rise.
This year, Auckland Council, working with service providers, counted 653 people sleeping rough in the city, up from 498 noted in the census in 2018.
Similar increases in homelessness have been reported from other parts of the country.
Lifewise chair Pam Elgar joins Kathryn to discuss why Lifewise is bringing back the Big Sleepout.
