Antoinette will sleep in park to help homeless

The sister of a rough sleeper who died in the heart of Paisley has made a final plea asking for people to join her and spend a night on the streets in memory of her brother.

Antoinette Kirkland, 36, will take part in the Sleep in the Park Glasgow event on Saturday, December 8, to not only raise money but to also help call for an end to homelessness throughout Scotland.

The mum-of-six was left devasted when she received the news that her brother Ian had been found lying on grassy ground on the corner of Incle Street and Gauze Street in August.

He was discovered with little more than a begging cup and yoga mat lying beside his body.

Antoinette said: “When Ian was found he had three sleeping bags even though it was summer.

“I can’t imagine how cold he must have been to need so many.

“I’m ashamed to admit it but before this happened to my brother I had no knowledge of how big this problem is.

“It’s going to be a cold winter and I just want to help as many people as I can.”

Last year 8,000 people joined the world’s largest sleep out in Princes Street Gardens to raise £4 million to fund a raft of major projects in the fight against homelessness.

Now this year event organisers Social Bite, a national Social Enterprise in Scotland, want to keep up the momentum and are asking 12,000 people across four cities to join in a nationwide sleep out in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee.

Antoinette will be joining the team who are sleeping overnight at Kelvingrove Park on Saturday.

To support Antoinette please visit https:// bit. ly/2yMqc8E. To find out more about the event go to www. sleepinthepark.co.uk