Sleep in the Park charity event boosted by £100k donation
The money from leading philanthropists will pay for 2,000 young people to take part in the rough sleeping event in Edinburgh later this year.
Last updated 12th Oct 2017
Four of Scotland’s top philanthropists have each donated £25,000 towards the Sleep in the Park charity event taking place in Edinburgh's West Princes Street Gardens.
The money will pay for 2,000 places which will be made available to school pupils aged under 16 and students.
The donation has been made by John Watson OBE (founder of the Watson Foundation), Bruce Wishart (managing director of Emteezy), Alan McLeish (managing director of QTS Group) and The Weir Charitable Trust.
Participants can't buy tickets for the event, described as the world's biggest sleep-out, but have to pay an initial £50 donation and commit to raising £50 more.
The crowd will be kept warm with exclusive busking sets from the likes of Liam Gallagher, Deacon Blue, Amy MacDonald and Frightened Rabbit.
The donation, totaling £100,000, will pay the initial £50 fundraising amount for 2,000 young people across the country.
Social Bite hopes the event will raise a total of £4m which will be invested in solutions to try and end homelessness in Scotland in a five-year period.
Josh Littlejohn MBE, 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 2,000 donated places will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.
To claim a space, applicants should email a.mahon@capital-events.co.uk by noon on October 31 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.
Social Bite started as a sandwich shop on Rose Street in Edinburgh in August 2012 and has now grown to five shops in Scotland, two large staff canteens in Edinburgh, a central production kitchen in Livingston and one of the country’s leading independent corporate catering businesses