Inside Arts

Littlejohn hopes dream can come true with Sleep in the Park, says Brian Ferguson

There was little time for me to dwell on the end of Edinburgh’s summer festivals this year. As a somewhat sleepy city centre returned to normality the morning after another rip-roaring fireworks finale, I was striding along Rose Street at a far earlier hour than I had seen for several weeks.

Within few minutes of arriving at a small west end sandwich shop, any lethargy from the previous month was blown away.

I had no idea what Social Bite founder Josh Littlejohn had in store when I was asked to discuss a new project with him – but I had a hunch it would be worth it.

I confess I had not fully appreciated the track record of the social entrepreneur until I saw him speak at the launch of a campaign by Visitscotland to harness the “spirit of Scotland”.

Littlejohn told how he had persuaded Bob Geldof, Sir Richard Branson and Bill Clinton to attend the Scottish Business Awards, an event he dreamt up in his mid-twenties, before his chain of ethical sandwich shops got off the ground.

Three months before I saw him speak, Littlejohn had pulled off the masterstroke of getting George Clooney to turn up to the first Social Bite cafe. By then, he was already working on a Social Bite restaurant, which Leonardo Dicaprio visited last November.

Weeks later, Littlejohn was outlining plans to create Scotland’s first village for homeless people in north Edinburgh. Then he persuaded hundreds of chief executives to sleep out in the middle of December in Charlotte Square – and got Nicola Sturgeon to help serve up breakfast.

The event raised more than £500,000 in one night. But it got him thinking about something far more ambitious.

He is now overseeing arguably the most exciting new event to be staged in Edinburgh for ten years – which he believes can eradicate homelessness in Scotland within the next five.

There is little doubt about the scale of the challenge Littlejohn has set himself and the city of Edinburgh. It is one thing to persuade 300odd chief executives to bed down for the night in a New Town garden. An overnight event for 9,000 people in the middle of Princes Street Gardens in the depths of winter is something else, never mind a £4 million fundraising target.

But who would bet against him pulling it all off? He has already secured the backing of Geldof for an event describing as Scotland’s answer to Live Aid, along with John Cleese, Liam Gallagher, Nicola Sturgeon, Rob Brydon, Amy Macdonald, Deacon Blue and Frightened Rabbit. Quite a line-up for a new event.

Before his charitable efforts, for anything comparable in Edinburgh, you probably have to go back to 2006, when the then Lord Provost Lesley Hinds brought together Ian Rankin, Alexander Mccall Smith, JK Rowling and Irvine Welsh for a specially-commissioned book and literary event in aid of a charity set up to tackle inequality and social exclusion in the city. Sadly the momentum was not maintained.

Not since the creation of a Hogmanay festival in Edinburgh a quarter of a century ago has there been a real game-changing event in terms of the city’s global reputation.

But Littlejohn has a clear vision for Sleep in the Park: “We want to make Scotland an example for the whole world to follow.”

Littlejohn has achieved a huge amount by thinking big over the last five years. But he gives the impression he is only just getting going. Following the progress of Sleep in the Park promises to be nothing short of fascinating.