Two thousand places at the charity sleepout are on offer to youngsters
Four of Scotland’s top philanthropists have dug deep and each donated £25,000 to fund places for the nation’s young people to take up the Social Bite Sleep in the Park fundraising challenge.
Two thousand places at the charity sleepout are on offer to school pupils over 16 and students.
The donation, worth £100,000, has been made by a group of the country’s leading philanthropists; John Watson OBE (founder of the Watson Foundation), Bruce Whishart (managing director of Empteezy), Alan McLeish (managing director of QTS Group) and The Weir Charitable Trust.
Participants for the Sleep in the Park aren’t able to buy tickets for the rough sleeping event, which features busking sets from the likes of Liam Gallagher, Deacon Blue, Amy MacDonald and Frightened Rabbit. Instead, they pay an initial £50 fundraising amount and commit to raising at least another £50 more.
The £100,000 donation will pay the initial £50 fundraising amount for 2,000 young people across the country. All Scottish young people over 16 and in full time education are invited to claim their place. Social Bite hopes the event will raise a total of £4 million which will be invested in solutions to try and end homelessness in Scotland in a five-year period.
Josh Littlejohn, co-founder of Social Bite, said: “I’m so grateful for the support from John, Bruce, Alan and The Weir Charitable Trust. We want 9,000 people to sleep out with us in December, and it’s great that we’re able to invite so many young people to take part. They are the future voices and leaders of our country, so having their support is immensely important.
“The generosity of these donors, and those already signed up, means that we are on track to hitting our main target of 9,000 participants and £4million raised, and one step closer to making a huge difference to homelessness in Scotland.”
The 2,000 donated places will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. To claim a space, applicants should email [email protected] by noon on 31 October with their name, age, place of study and contact details. Teachers and staff from high schools and universities are also encouraged to take an allocation of places for their students.
The event will take place on the 9 December in Edinburgh’s West Princes Street Gardens and will feature a spectacular live concert with performances from Liam Gallagher, Deacon Blue, Amy Macdonald and Frightened Rabbit.
Members of the public can join Sleep in the Park by paying an initial £50 sign-up fee and committing to fundraising at least £100. Businesses can sponsor the event by signing up a team of five with a minimum fundraising commitment of £3,000.
