Kiltwalk participants will now be able to donate to the fight against homelessness rather than a specific charity

Organisations that support the homeless have joined forces in a bid to boost funds.

Six charities – Bethany Christian Trust, Glasgow City Mission, Street Soccer Scotland, Rock Trust and The Simon Community/Streetwork - have agreed a formal collective agreement to put the cause of homelessness at the forefront of their fundraising efforts for this year’s Kiltwalk events.

The Together for Homelessness campaign will see 100% of all funds raised by the charities split equally and directed to the delivery of each charity’s frontline services.

And the total sum raised from the four Kiltwalk events will be boosted by an additional 40% by The Hunter Foundation.

The charities hope their approach will result in enhanced support from the thousands of Kiltwalk participants across Scotland who can now chose one single cause to support – the battle against homelessness - rather than a specific charity.

David Duke, founder and chief executive of Street Soccer Scotland, said that the groups need to work together to help people of the streets.

“Crucially, each of the charities involved deals with different aspects of homelessness,” he said. “This approach allows us to collectively campaign in this year’s Kiltwalk with the single aim of having a greater impact on the delivery of frontline services.”

Statistics from the Scottish Government showed that there were 17,797 applications for homelessness assistance between April and September 2016, a 2% increase from the same six-month period in 2016.

Iain Gordon, chief executive at Bethany Christian Trust, said: “Those of us in Together for Homelessness can help more people in more places in more ways than any of our organisations could individually. We can all have greater impact together.”

Lorraine McGrath, of the Simon Community Scotland/Streetwork, said that there are no easy ways to tackle homelessness.

She said: “Homelessness is complex and often requires a multi-agency response and partnership working is an important part of meeting the needs of each person. It is in that spirit of partnership working that we are delighted to join forces and raise public awareness of our work across Scotland."

Fundraisers wishing to support the Together for Homelessness can register on a new website that has been created for the campaign, or on the Kiltwalk website.