Sir Chris Hoy to join 250 sleeping rough in Edinburgh to fund village for homeless
The sleep-out is taking place on December 15th.
Sir Chris Hoy is to join 250 people sleeping rough for a night to raise money for a new village for the homeless.
Social Bite plans to provide a low-cost, supervised and safe living environment for up to 20 homeless people with 10 purpose-built homes in Granton, Edinburgh, and needs to raise £500,000 for the project.
As part of a fundraising drive, around 250 of the most influential people in Scotland are to sleep rough in Edinburgh's Charlotte Square.
The group will sleep out from 7pm on December 15 until 7am the next morning, when they will be served breakfast by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.
Ms Sturgeon said: Tackling homelessness is a priority for the Scottish Government and we collaborate closely with local government and a range of national and local partners to work towards ensuring everyone has access to a warm and safe place to stay.
Social Bite has done incredible work to help homeless people in Scotland by giving them the opportunity to work in their cafes and restaurants.
The money raised from this event will go towards their groundbreaking new homeless village which will help break the cycle of homelessness. I look forward to meeting all those taking part in the sleep-out and hearing of their experience.''
Run by Social Bite with the EDI Group and the City of Edinburgh Council, work is expected to begin on the village early next year, with the first residents moving in by the summer.
Social Bite co-founder Josh Littlejohn said: There's a beautiful symmetry that the country's most wealthy and influential people are braving the freezing cold for one night to help fund a long-term solution to homelessness.
The Social Bite Village will tackle the problem of homelessness full circle by putting roofs over people's heads, a supportive environment around them and giving links to employment opportunities.''
Olympic champion Sir Chris said he is looking forward to the sleep-out.
It takes a lot to get me to give up my bed but the Social Bite Village is an extremely worthwhile cause,'' he said.
Social Bite is being bold in trying to show how the cycle of homelessness can be broken, by giving people support and stability, and that's something that I'm keen to back.
Sleeping rough for one night might just be a small gesture, but the money raised will go to kick-start the fundraising for this extraordinary project.''
Social Bite cafes allows customers to ''pay forward'' meals for the homeless and around a quarter of its staff are formerly homeless.
Movie star Leonardo DiCaprio stopped for lunch at Social Bite venture Home in Edinburgh's west end last month, and his visit followed that of Hollywood star George Clooney to Social Bite's Rose Street branch in the city a year earlier.