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Ayrshire women join the big sleep in the Park for homeless awareness in Edinburgh

Ten Ayrshire ladies know as the ‘Sleepout Girls’ took to the streets of Edinburgh last weekend, and bedded down in sub-zero temperatures.



They joined more than 8,000 people who spent the night in Princes Street Gardens raising money for the homeless as part of Sleep in the Park, organised by Social Bite.

Sir Bob Geldof and Sir Chris Hoy also gave their support by sleeping under the stars. Celebrities like Deacon Blue, Amy McDonald and Liam Gallagher entertained the crowd and John Cleese helped them off to sleep with a bedtime story.


Linda Hill Miller from LAH Travel said ‘We all found it tough physically and emotionally and we were only doing it for one night together with 8,000 others. Every night there are people who endure terrible weather and conditions and often alone in doorways or alleys. We raised an impressive £23,000 but would love to reach £30k. We were delighted to be in the top 3 fundraisers and were invited to meet Sir Bob Geldof and John Cleese.


The Ayrshire girls fundraising page is https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-display/showROFundraiserPage?userUrl=Sleepoutgirls&isTeam=true

We can change this awful situation and this event has raised so much awareness and as we go into Christmas let’s not forget the less fortunate …… every penny helps.

Social Bite’s co-founder Josh Littlejohn said there were 11,000 homeless households in Scotland.


He said: “When I think about all of the amazing different people, who slept in the park the one thing that strikes me about these statistics of homelessness is that they are not insurmountable. Scotland is a small enough country, a compassionate enough country and a collaborative enough country, where nobody has to be homeless here. If we put our heads together, we can wipe out homelessness in five years. It is not a question of resource; it is simply a question of focus. And what the participants have all done on Saturday night by giving up their beds, is put a razor-sharp focus on the issue."

Quote is taken from the BBC website

The team was made up of Phyllis McLeish and girls from QTS , Brenda Ritchie from Westsound Radio and Linda Hill Miller from LAH Travel.

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