A COUPLE who met on the streets helping homeless people will be ditching a romantic getaway for a sleeping bag in a bid to open their alcohol-free pub.

Grace Gomez and her husband Joe are planning to sleep under the stars on August 12 to raise funds for their new shelter at the old Queens Arms Pub on Great Knollys Street.

It has been five years since the pair met and with all of their attention focused on opening the pub, they decided to celebrate their third wedding anniversary in an unusual way.

Grace and the New Beginnings team have set a two-month deadline to open the pub, with the sponsored sleepout forming a key part of their fundraising campaign.

She said: "I have never done anything like this before but I am determined to do what it takes to open the pub. We want to help people.

"Normally we will be in a spa. This year we will be swapping the hotel room for a sleeping bag.

"It will be unusual but it will be worth it. I have been homeless before myself and I feel blessed.

Reading Chronicle:

"I have a lovely husband and I will not stop fighting for those people who are not as fortunate and as lucky as I am."

After securing the site next to the town's bus depot, Grace started applying for grant funding to get the pub up to scratch.

Her team has been inundated with smaller donations and offers of labour from the community, but a sponsor is still being sought to get the centre open.

"We formed a new charity to relieve the hardship of vulnerable and homeless people in Reading and there has been a really good response from the community.

"However, we are still looking for a sponsor to get us off the ground. I am hoping local businesses will consider having us as their charity partner for a year.

"We are about two months away from opening, but we need to raise £12,000 for the initial six months."

Visit: http://bit.ly/2uhBIIk to take part in the sponsored sleepout.