KT and Amy face race to play four cities for charity

The biggest event to help end rough sleeping in Scotland takes place tonight and Jack McKeown spoke to KT Tunstall

It’s almost upon us. Tonight Sleep in the Park will see more than 12,000 people sleep outside to raise £4 million and try to help end homelessness in Scotland.

Organised by charity Social Bite, the events in Dundee, Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh are being supported by stars including Irvine Welsh, The View’s Kyle Falconer, Lulu and Eddi Reader.

Scottish singer-songwriter stars KT Tunstall and Amy Macdonald will be performing in all four cities.

“It’s going to be crazy,” KT Tunstall said. “We’re hoping we manage to do what we said we would and get round all four cities. Myself and Amy Macdonald are aiming to perform in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow. It’s going to be a rush to get round them all.

“We were initially going to travel by helicopter but then someone decided that wasn’t safe in December with uncertain weather so now we’ll be doing it by car,” KT continued.

“It’s going to be extremely exciting though and there are some fantastic other acts on.”

At the heart of Sleep in the Park is a push to raise £4 million to go towards ending homelessness in Scotland.

“Homelessness is such an awful and intractable problem,” KT said. “I live in LA these days, on Venice Beach, and it’s such a huge problem there. I’m so proud to see Scotland tackling it head on.

“It’s easy to turn your back but it’s incredibly tough for homeless people, especially at this time of year when it really can be life or death.

“It’s not a simple problem and there are all sorts of other challenges in homeless people’s lives – particularly mental health issues – but people can’t solve other problems until they have a place to live. Being homeless you’re in survival mode all the time.”

This summer saw KT do some busking outside DC Thomson’s HQ in Dundee to drum up publicity for Sleep in the Park.

“It was also outside my old school and it was great to be back in the city,” she said. “It was much better than my last busking experience in Dundee. When I was young I busked in the underpass on the way to the leisure centre. It was awful. I didn’t make any money and I got moved on by the police.

“This time two police officers turned up to watch and I got my picture taken with them.”

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At this time of year it really can be a case of life or death