This mum and dad are sleeping on their roof in howling wind and rain to raise cash to supply solar panels for the entire street. Parents-of-two Hilary Powell and Dan Edelstyn, whose children are aged 10 and 12, dragged their double bed and two lamps onto their terraced house roof last month and have been kipping up there ever since.
The artists, both 45, have battled heavy rain, wind and plunging temperatures in a bid to raise £100,000 to supply their street in Walthamstow, North London, with renewable energy panels. The couple, who hauled everything onto the roof via their loft window, will endure the soggy bone-chilling temperatures until they smash their target, which currently stands at £83,000.
Dan said that although their initial target was £50,000, they have now doubled it double it to £100,000, expecting to be on the roof for a little while yet. Hilary said: "Every night we sleep here [on the roof], basically from when dark falls.
"The wind has been a bit bad. I'm worried about myself, but I'm more worried because we want everything to be secure. The bed itself is strapped onto the chimney and the mattress has straps on [too]. We had two standard lamps, but they've gone down for maintenance because one snapped in half from the wind and one went down the sloping roof.
"It's like being on board a ship. When the lights are set up it looks very magical to the children walking by but if it's really windy and rainy we can't turn them on. There's been a bit of bad weather. We couldn't cope up here if it got much more gale-y or thunder-y, it'd just be dangerous."
The couple have even been working al fresco during the day at a desk they also hauled up there make sure their two children, aged 10 and 12, are tucked up safely in their bedrooms at night. Hilary, who also owns two dogs, said: "We're a bit sleep-deprived, gusts of wind come, we aren't really getting the same sleep as the inside.
"We go to sleep under the plastic tarpaulin because it just keeps the damp out but even when it's not raining, you get totally soaked. We're up here from dusk 'til dawn. Obviously, we have to go down [the loft ladder] and get people to school and walk the dogs but then we tend to come back up here.
"One of us has to be in the house until a bit later, getting the children into bed and stuff. One arrives with the lights and the other arrives to the full damp experience.
"We're trying to have meetings up here when we can with other people, but lots of them might not want to come up onto the roof, they might not like heights. There's definitely pressure to always be on the roof, we can't really stop and go 'oh actually we're a bit cold'."
The couple's neighbours have been supportive of their unorthodox fundraising stunt - shouting up messages of support. Hilary said: "We've got a good community on our street, they're shouting up encouraging things. We tend to ignore any bad reactions, we know there are people out there rooting for us and for people power.
"It's something out of the ordinary and magical and joyful, that's important too amid all the gloom. We're more connected again, not just with the human community but to the city and non-human habitat around. We're up with the birds. There are little sparrows on the chimneys right next to us."
The pair also view the fundraiser as an art project in itself. Hilary said: "There's an idea that the arts are separate from life, we see the whole project as a giant art installation."
Dan said: "It's an absurdity, it's beautiful, it's comic, and it provides a little bit of light-relief for the imagination around incredibly heavy topics."
The couple have vowed to stay on their roof until they hit the £100,000 target. Hilary said: "This crowdfunder is specifically raising the money that we need to pay for solar panels for the first 35 houses on this one street, but it's not really just about this one street.
"We thought 'we can actually do something in all of these combined crises of energy and climate and cost of living'. Solar panels, in our early research, are an easy way in. They're a gateway into other measures. They're the first step towards decarbonising our energy system, so many rooftops across the country would be viable."
Dan said: "The argument is that any sane government would be investing in this across Britain immediately to combat climate change." We're really trying to get to £100,000, I think we'll be here for another month."
You can donate to Hilary and Dan's page here.
