Do you like the idea of being told a bedtime story by Dame Helen Mirren or Will Smith? Well, some lucky people who take part in a new charitable initiative called The World's Big Sleep Out will get to enjoy precisely this bucket-list experience.

On December 7, Mirren will tell a bedtime story in London's Trafalgar Square and Smith will read one in New York's Times Square to entertain folks who are sleeping out for the night to help fight homelessness.

According to a press release, The World's Big Sleep Out is "thought to be the largest charitable fundraising campaign in a generation" and has set itself a target of raising $50 million. It's being organized by Josh Littlejohn of social enterprise Social Bite.

More than 50 cities worldwide are confirmed to be taking part, including Chicago and Los Angeles as well as New York, and folks are also being encouraged to hold their own sleep-outs in a backyard, office parking lot, high school, college campus, or elsewhere. Mirren, Smith, and Coldplay singer Chris Martin all appear in a short video encouraging people to register for the event, which you can watch below.

https://vimeo.com/367957233

You can find out more about The World's Big Sleep Out and sign up to take part on the website. And in the meantime, you can catch Dame Helen Mirren in her new historical miniseries Catherine the Great, which is airing now on HBO.

What bedtime story would you like Dame Helen Mirren to read for you?