Sue, Luke & Week on the Street

Meet Sue and Luke the founders of the ‘Week on the Street’ Team.

Sue is our beloved floor and kitchen manager, and Luke is her son. They have been sleeping out for Soul since he was 9 years old. Feeling compelled to contribute to those suffering from homelessness, Luke and Sue began volunteering on the Saturday brekkie team and participated in their first Sleepout, formerly known as the CEO Sleepout for Soul which had only 10 people participate with a prerequisite of a $1,000 donation.

Over the next four years Sue and Luke slept out each year from winery paddocks to parks, to tram sheds and overnight on the train to Sydney and back where they met other homeless individuals on the journey.

As Sleepout for Soul gained huge interest and momentum, the rules were changed where anybody could Sleepout, raising any amount of money and this became the current Sleepout for Soul format which is entering its eighth year in 2023.

Five years ago, a Soul guest inspired Sue and Luke to discover what its like to Sleepout on the streets for a week finishing with the annual Sleepout. With the addition of @talk2mebros Luke Conners and with a swag, sleeping bag, the clothes we had on, the Week on the Street Team took off.

Over the years they have experienced the anxiety, uncertainty, the cold and the depression of what makes up a night on the streets. The only difference they had to permanent rough sleepers was having a job/school to go to in the day and a home to return to at the end of the week. That short amount of time doesn’t come close to what our guests and many more experience every night.

Photo captured by Me Photography and commissioned by one of our amazing sponsors Bondi Chai