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Reporter
This event is a mass participation sleep-out which aims to help tackle homelessness in Scotland
Social Bite has announced that 2000 university students and faculty members across Scotland will be welcome to participate in this year’s Sleep in The Park event without paying a registration fee. The event is organised annually by Social Bite in an effort to raise awareness and funds to combat homelessness in Scotland. It will take place on Saturday 8 December. This year the event is to be held in parks located in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen where participants will gather overnight to stage what the organisers describe as “the world’s largest sleep out”. Participants in Glasgow are currently planned to spend the night in Kelvingrove Bandstand.
To obtain a ticket to participate in Sleep in the Park, members of the public ordinarily have to pay £50 to register and fundraise an additional £50. The proceeds of ticket sales are reportedly used to combat homelessness in Scotland through a number of means including providing resources to shelters and supporting academic studies into the issue. The cost of waiving 2000 registration fees for students and faculty members has been fully offset by an anonymous £100,000 donation received by Social Bite.
According to organisers, participants at this year’s event can expect entertainment from musicians such as Frightened Rabbit, Amy MacDonald and KT Tunstall. In addition to this, Irvine Welsh, author of Trainspotting, is to make an appearance which will include the reading of a bedtime story. Olympian Sir Chris Hoy is also expected to spend the night participating at one of the four announced venues.
Students and faculty can register for Sleep in the Park by visiting the event’s website. Those who wish to avoid paying the £50 registration fee can do so by using the referral code “SITPGLA”. Those interested may choose to attend the event at any of the four cities in which it is to be held regardless of which institution they study or teach at.
