34 mins
Sleeping under the stars in Edinburgh
IT’S a freezing Saturday night in central Edinburgh.
The city is packed with visitors taking in the entertainment offered by the annual Christmas market and there are Christmas party revellers spilling on to the streets.
It’s 6.30pm and the temperature is already below freezing as we join a queue of hundreds of people snaking along the west end of Princes Street and in to Lothian Road.
I am part of a 12-strong team from Dunfermline Abbey taking part in the Sleep in the Park – a mass campaign to end homelessness which saw over 8000 people sleeping out in the West Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh on what was then the coldest night of this winter, with temperatures plummeting to -7C. We were not alone. An estimated 1500 people from the Church of Scotland are thought to have taken part, from teenagers to an 83-yearold woman, a number which the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, the Rt Rev Dr Derek Browning described as ‘remarkable’. Dr Browning and former Moderator, the Very Rev Albert Bogle joined the thousands sleeping out along with a number of celebrities including Sir Chris Hoy and sports presenter Dougie Vipond.
We pass through a security check (the event is dry given the dangers of mixing subzero temperatures with alcohol) and each person is handed an orange plastic survival bag, with instructions to place all belongings inside wherever we pitch and to sleep in sleeping bags inside the bag.
We are given wristbands to allow us to return to our mini camp and for entry to the evening’s entertainment, which includes music from Frightened Rabbit, Amy Macdonald, Deacon Blue and Liam Gallagher, ending with a bedtime story read by actor John Cleese. Comedian Rob Brydon brings the evening together, with a hard hitting political address by Sir Bob Geldolf and a moving update on the plans for the money raised by organiser and founder of the Social Bite social business, Josh Littlejohn.
Mr Littlejohn, was emphatic homelessness could be eradicated in Scotland within five years. Outlining the plans for the millions of pounds generated by Sleep In The Park, he said homelessness was not about resource but rather focus.
“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”, adding:
“Tonight Scotland has set an example for the whole world.”
More than £3.6m had been raised by the opening of Sleep In The Park (including an anonymous £500,000 donation made at lunchtime that day, he said, but just as importantly, he said) pledges had been made for homes, jobs and support for hundreds of people experiencing homelessness.
A little after 11pm, thousands of people flocked back to their orange bags to set up camp on a freezing night. Around 11.30pm, resplendent in five layers, I wriggle, fully clad, into my sleeping bag, endeavouring to spend the night on thermal mats and the orange survival bag to try to sleep. I decide that if I have to exit the bag, I won’t be trying to get back in and attempt to drift off amid the noise of 8000 people trying to snooze in subzero temperatures – and of festivities around the Gardens.
Edinburgh Castle is directly ahead of my bed for the night, beautifully illuminated in green – the brand colour of Social Bite. The stars are twinkling in the sky. It is a crisp, but dry wintry night in the east coast of Scotland – too cold for snow, but frost is forming on the pavements around.
Security guards are patrolling the sleepout areas to ensure everyone is safe.
Some people are already cold and have made the decision to spend the night in solidarity by wandering around the site, crowding around the braziers, lit for warmth, or sitting on the benches within the gardens.
In reality, my sleep was little more than a fitful doze on the frozen uncomfortable ground – not made much more bearable by the presence of padded thermal mats.
Lynne McNeil
Editor of Life and Work and the Rt Rev Dr Derek Browning
Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland
Images from Sleep in the Park.
I had five layers of clothing (including a set of thermals) yet even this was not enough. By 4.11am, I realised I was cold and had to move. Hundreds had the same idea as we queued for the free tea and coffee on offer. Yet this is the reality for hundreds of people on the streets of our land every night. I was frozen, cold and uncomfortable but was surrounded by thousands of people and had access to hot drinks and food. What about those who do not have such basic necessities and are forced to sleep on the streets, fearful for their safety, their bodies and senses dulled by the freezing cold, wondering if they will survive the night and manage to find food the next day?
We completed the challenge by walking around to stay warm and drinking hot drinks. Others do not have this choice.
We were able to return home to the comfort of family, friends and warm beds. Others do not have a place to call home.
On returning home, I struggled to stay warm: my fitness band recorded two hours and 45 minutes of sleep, but also revealed my pulse rate was at its lowest-ever level.
The cold air in my lungs made me cough and for several days afterwards, I felt more cold and tired than usual (even for the time of year).
Yet this was the impact of only a single night. The damage to health and wellbeing of a fit and healthy person suddenly forced on to the streets would undoubtedly be seriously eroded by persistent sleeping on streets in such conditions, reinforcing research by the homelessness charity Streetwork which shows that the average life expectancy of homeless rough sleepers is just 39 in Scotland.
Speaking on the day after the event, Dr Browning said much hope could be drawn from the mass sleep out in raising awareness.
He said that homelessness, and the factors that lead to homelessness, were a challenge for churches and people of faith: “Homelessness is not simply the lack of a roof over your head.
“Homelessness is a symptom which has many root causes. Domestic abuse; relationship breakdown; unemployment; poverty; substance and alcohol addiction; poor mental health.
“If we are going to address homelessness we also need to address these and other issues in our communities, in our country, and in our churches.”
He added: “It is an issue that, for those of us from the Christian faith, asks us to think again how we love, or fail to love, our neighbours as ourselves.”
Read full details of the research and plans behind Sleep in the Park at www.sleepinthepark.co.uk
Thank you to everyone who has so generously supported the team from Dunfermline Abbey which has raised more than £8000 by taking part in Sleep in the Park.
This article appears in the February 2018 Issue of Life and Work
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