Fundraisers in Perth had a taste of how it feels to be homeless when they took part in the fourth annual Perth sleep-out event on Wednesday night.
On November 20, 82 people bedded down in sleeping bags outside St John’s Kirk, making camp from 8pm to 6am.
The event at the centrepoint church in Perth was organised by CATH (Churches Action for the Homeless).
The rough sleepers were given a supportive presence by the Territorial Army and the Street Pastors and ended their night with bacon rolls at 6am.
Perth service manager for CATH, Graham Taylor was one of those who took part. He told the PA it had been a good night with plenty of camaraderie, where everybody “dug deep” to see it through.
The sleep-out was dry and not as chilly as it had been earlier this week when Perth saw nighttime temperatures dip to minus 5 degrees.
“On Wednesday the cold was bad, everybody felt it, but it kept just above freezing,” commented Graham.
Numbers on site were a bit down on the numbers registered - 82 came, 117 registered - but as Graham observed, all those that signed up raised valuable funds for the cause.
CATH is still totting up the totals for this year’s event in Perth, but it is expected to be in a similar region or a bit higher than in 2018, when the Perth sleep-out brought in £14,000.
The money raised all goes back into supporting vulnerable people locally.
Statistics record that at least 139 people who were homeless died in Scotland over the previous two winters.
