Organisers hope to raise almost £40m for homelessness charities this year.
A galaxy of stars will join people across the world to tackle homelessness in the Worlds’ Big Sleep Out.
This year’s event is taking place in 50 locations around the world, with organisers hoping to raise a staggering $50 million (£38m).
Thought to be the largest charitable fundraising campaign in a generation, an estimated 50,000 people will be taking part in the fundraiser. They will be joined by a host of famous names who will join events worldwide on Saturday 7 December.
Dundee-born actor Brian Cox will speak to crowds at the sleep out at New York’s Times Square, while the Los Angeles event will feature performances from reggae icon Ziggy Marley and singer Ellie Goulding.
Game of Thrones actor Daniel Portman, Australian singer/songwriter Angie McMahon and Rab C. Nesbit star Gregor Fisher are all set to attend the event in Edinburgh’s West Princes Street Gardens, and other sleep outs will be attended by Will Smith, Helen Mirren and Irish band The Script.
Cities and towns confirmed to be taking part include London (Trafalgar Square and The Oval), New York (Times Square), Edinburgh, Dublin, Belfast, Chicago, Cardiff, Newcastle, Newport, Brighton, Manchester, Los Angeles, New Delhi, Santiago, Madrid, Brisbane, Manila, Wacken, Mumbai, Hong Kong, San Jose (Costa Rica), and Singapore.
Anyone wishing to take part can register at the Big Sleep Out website, where details can also be found on how to host your own event.
All funds raised will go towards helping tackle homelessness, with a 50/50 split between local and global charities helping homeless and displaced people.
The World’s Big Sleep Out was founded in 2016 by Josh Littlejohn, co-founder of Scottish social enterprise Social Bite. In that year, 300 people spent a night sleeping outside to raise money to tackle homelessness. Last year, that number had grown to 10,000.
As well as benefiting local charities, international partners for the campaign include UNICEF USA, Malala Fund and the Institute of Global Homelessness.
