Appeal to solicitors to join “world’s biggest sleepout”

An appeal is going out to Scottish solicitors to join in what is being claimed as “the world's largest sleepout”.

Sleep in the Park, in four Scottish cities on Saturday 8 December, is being organised by Social Bite, the social enterprise company whose mission is to end homelessness in Scotland by building a collaborative mission against it.

Social Bite is looking for 12,000 people to join in the event, in “sleep zones” in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow, in order both to raise funds and to raise awareness of the issue of homelessness, as part of a strategy to develop longer term solutions.

At last year’s Sleep in the Park, in Edinburgh's Princes Street Gardens, 8,000 people took part, raising £4m. The money, and publicity from the event, resulted in 500 houses being made available to rough sleepers and homeless people, 160 jobs and 35 spare rooms being offered, and homelessness capturing political attention in Scotland.

Social Bite was also the inspiration behind the village in Granton, Edinburgh that has been purpose built to provide an alternative to temporary accommodation for homeless people, in a project that supports up to 20 people at any one time, including a network to help them to live independently and access work.

The project itself provided an opportunity for professionals to dedicate some pro bono assistance as part of their corporate social responsibility programme, and solicitors Anderson Strathern were among those to lend a team in support, covering planning, leasing, construction and other issues.

The firm is one of several legal practices that have already committed to taking part in Sleep in the Park, among them CMS, Shepherd & Wedderburn and Thorntons.

Chris Rae, CSR partner for Scotland at CMS, commented: “We’re pleased to be participating in this year’s Sleep in the Park, sponsoring sleep zones in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen with 200 CMS staff and family members taking part in the event. We are proud to support a great initiative which raises awareness and funds to develop longer term solutions to help tackle homelessness in Scotland.”

Thorntons' managing partner Craig Nicol affirmed: “We admire the ambition of Social Bite and the aim to end homelessness, so we are proud to continue our support for Sleep in the Park. It’s an integral part of our strategy as a firm to be invested in the local areas where we operate.”

Stephen Gibb, chief executive of Shepherd & Wedderburn added: “Last year five of us slept out in Princes Street Gardens – believe me it was cold (–6°C)! – and colleagues across the business made donations to the campaign, raising more than £9,000. We’re gearing up with enthusiasm to do the same again this year in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen.”

Josh Littlejohn, founder and CEO of Social Bite said: “I believe that ending homelessness is possible. It requires people from every sector and industry to play their part. We are delighted to have the support of many solicitors from in-house teams and law firms who have already registered for Sleep in the Park. Scottish legal professionals hold significant levels of influence, and I would like to invite more to join the movement to end homelessness by sleeping out on 8 December.”

Visit www.SleepInThePark.co.uk to find out more and sign up.