NEWS
WAKE-UP CALL
After the success of the inaugural event last year, Social Bite’s Sleep in the Park is back and this time it’s set to be the world’s biggest
simultaneous multi-city sleep out. Katharine Gemmell fi nds out more
FAST FACTS
Social Bite i rst started in 2012 as one sandwich shop on Edinburgh’s Rose Street. It has now mushroomed to include 5 shops across Scotland, two staff canteens in the capital, a production kitchen in Livingston and a corporate catering output.
A quarter of Social Bite’s staff are homeless and the organisation is the largest distributor of free fresh food to the homeless in the UK. Social Bite gives out over 100,000 items of food and hot drinks to those in need every year.
8000 people took part in last year’s Sleep in the Park event, including politicians and celebrities, raising a whopping £4 million.
George Clooney, Leonardo DiCaprio, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are just some big names who recognise the work the charity does and have visited Social Bite on their trips to Edinburgh
The money raised from the event has funded a raft of major projects, including a major Housing First initiative which is expected to take 800 rough sleepers off the streets by 2020.
It has also gone towards the opening of the Social Bite Village that has been two years in the making. The village, based in Granton, Edinburgh, consists of 11 purpose-built two bedroom houses and a community hub that will support 20 tenants into mainstream tenancy each year. To allow Amy Macdonald and KT Tunstall to play in all four cities at this year’s event, Andrew and Yvonne Devlin of Curtis Moore Group have provided an aircraft and l ight services. All four cities’ airports have also agreed to forego the landing fees for the cause.
O n Saturday 8 December, Scotland’s four largest cities will cumulatively host 12,000 people and attempt to raise £6 million in the i ght to eradicate homelessness. Edinburgh’s event will take place in Princes Street Gardens, Aberdeen’s in Duthie Park, Dundee’s in Slessor Gardens and Glasgow’s at Kelvingrove Bandstand.
Co-founder of Social Bite, Josh Littlejohn (pictured), truly believes that this project can be the sea-change Scotland needs to stop homelessness: ‘By coming together, we can accelerate the pace of change in Scotland and create the political mandate to truly end homelessness here. I fundamentally believe that the statistics of homelessness in Scotland are not insurmountable. By collaborating, and treating homelessness as a political priority, I believe that Scotland can be a country where everyone has a place to call home.’ This year the lineup includes an impressive array of artists helping participants get through the cold night. Amy MacDonald and KT Tunstall will play in each of the four cities, travelling between them by helicopter.
Edinburgh’s lineup includes an acoustic set from Lulu and a bedtime story delivered by Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh. In Dundee, Kyle Falconer and Withered Hand have coni rmed that they’ll be there
14 THE LIST 1 Sep–31 Oct 2018
to keep the crowd awake and in Aberdeen, the job will be undertaken by Eddi Reader, Kris Drever and Adam Holmes & the Embers. Over at Glasgow’s event, Frightened Rabbit will curate the event and perform with guest vocalists alongside Stina Tweeddale from Honeyblood and an act that they have specially selected. All four lineups also include local acts, still to be coni rmed, that will play to the sleepers through the night.
The £4 million raised from the stand-alone Edinburgh event the completion of the Social Bite village and the Housing First programme that both work to bring homeless people into mainstream tenancies across Scotland. last year went
towards
Scotland’s Housing Minister, Kevin Stewart, commented: ‘Public support for events like the sleep-out demonstrates the appetite for change and the Scottish government absolutely shares this commitment to ending homelessness. It’s great to see the events being expanded throughout Scotland and I’d encourage everyone to get involved.’ To take part in Sleep in the Park, all you need to do is commit to raising £100. If you are a business you can sponsor the event by signing up a team of i ve, with a fundraising commitment of £3000.
For more information and full lineups as they are coni rmed, go to sleepinthepark.co.uk