Marina Gray, her grandson Connor Klower and his mates take part in charity sleepout

Marina Gray, her grandson Connor Klower and his mate and fellow Assumption School student Zevi Hope had committed to spending a night outside on August 25 to raise money for those doing it tough.

"And then one of the other boys at school [Arthur Ajji], his mother contacted me on Thursday night and she said he wanted to be involved with it," Ms Gray said.

"So he came along as well, so I had three of them. And they were really good."

The group of four slept in swags out in the elements, though near the house, at Ms Gray's Billywillinga place on the Friday night and through the early hours of the Saturday morning.

"We have a pig [wild pig] problem at home, so we didn't venture out too far," Ms Gray said.

"We were just near the house, so they [the pigs] don't come there.

"But they [the boys] were completely outside, in the weather. They felt it."

Ms Gray said Connor, Zevi and Arthur asked plenty of questions, which was part of the aim of the exercise.

"They said 'it's freezing and imagine if you had to do it more than two nights'.

"And then we were just talking about all the types of homelessness and Connor is a bit aware of different homelessness, because we've talked about it before, but the other two boys were asking questions: what happens to them [the homeless]?

"I said 'well, we don't know; we just know that they don't have a place. Some people get to put their head down somewhere and other people have to just sleep out in the cold'.

"And then we were talking about different things and they said they noticed that what would make it worse was going to bed with an empty tummy.

"They said 'it's not really fun, is it?'. And I said 'no, it's not'.

"I said 'when you're together and you're doing things, it's a bit of fun, but when you're actually on your own out there, you're all alone and you hear all the noises and your belly's hungry and you can't sleep properly because you're cold'.

"And they were pretty aware of it."

Ms Gray and the three boys have raised about $1800 so far through their sleepout efforts, which will go towards the Bathurst Vinnies Van that is scheduled to start in late 2023.

The van will provide meals and support for the local homeless and vulnerable, including delivering sandwiches and drinks.

They are short of their fundraising target set before the sleepout, but Ms Gray said it was not all about the money.

"The idea is awareness," she said.

"Raising money for the van is a bonus, but making people aware is the main thing, so it went really well that way."

Having said that, Ms Gray said donations will be accepted (including through their page on the Vinnies Community Sleepout website) until the end of September.

She said there was a lighthearted moment during their sleepout when she got out of her swag at about 5am and went inside to use the bathroom.

"When I came out, they said 'did you sleep inside?'.

"They didn't hear me go in, but they heard me when I came back out."

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