
Boris Johnson, the mayor of London, and Evgeny Lebedev, the owner of the Evening Standard and The Independent titles spent a night sleeping on London's streets last week.
Why? In solidarity with those who have no other choice but to do so, and to raise awareness about our Homeless Veterans winter charity campaign.
The mayor and Mr Lebedev spent Friday night and Saturday morning on the pavement of Gresham Street, near St Paul's Cathedral in central London, with just a sleeping bag and a sheet of cardboard.
I was doing this visit, and spending a night sleeping rough, because I wanted to understand the plight of those homeless people this newspaper has set out to help. What I saw and experienced was shocking in its injustice, sobering in making clear how far we still have to go and often difficult to watch.
- Evgeny Lebedev