EDINBURGH University has announced it will sponsor a house for a homeless person in a development in the capital being planned by the Social Bite organisation.
The announcement came after students and staff at Edinburgh joined a mass sleep-out in Princes Street Gardens to help end homelessness.
The University’s participants had hoped to raise £50,000 by taking part in Sleep in the Park which took place last weekend on one of the coldest nights of the year.
The target has been now been exceeded and a house in the Social Bite Village is to be sponsored.
Sleep in the Park featured performances by former Oasis singer Liam Gallagher and Scottish artists Deacon Blue, Frightened Rabbit and Amy MacDonald. It was hosted by comedian Rob Brydon.
Live Aid organiser Sir Bob Geldof joined the thousands sleeping out, and Monty Python actor John Cleese delivered a bedtime story, before Deputy First Minister John Swinney served bacon rolls.
The event, which brought together 9000 people, was organised by Social Bite, a social enterprise that supports efforts to eradicate homelessness.
It is working with Edinburgh Council to build purpose-built houses to provide a safe, supportive environment for up to 20 homeless people.
The University said: “By raising more than £50,000, the University is now able to sponsor one of the houses being built at the Social Bite Village in the Granton area of the city.”
Social Bite was co-founded by Edinburgh alumnus Josh Littlejohn, who graduated in 2009 with a degree with Economics and Politics, who the University awarded an Honorary degree earlier this year, Degree of Doctor of Science in Social Science for his work with Social Bite.
All the profits from Social Bite’s five sandwich shops across Scotland go to good causes. A quarter of its staff were formerly homeless.
After the event, which has so far raised £3.6m, Littlejohn said: Scotland is a small enough country, a compassionate enough country and a collaborative enough country, where nobody has to be homeless. If we put our heads together, we can wipe out homelessness in five years.”
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