£8500 from sleep out will fund meals for homeless
An event designed to raise awareness of homelessness raised more than £8500.
November’s annual Sleep Out was organised by Perth charity Churches Action for the Homeless (CATH).
Held in the vicinity of St John’s Kirk in the centre of the Fair City, the event was attended by teams from Asda, SSE, Perth and Kinross Council’s housing team, Marks and Spencer, Perth College UHI, Sainsbury’s and the SNP Perth Office.
There were also a couple of teams made up of CATH staff and individuals who access the charity’s services.
Organisers this week announced £8523 was raised in total – despite a similar, larger, event taking place in Edinburgh around the same time.
CATH’s Ron Hogg said:“This is an incredible amount of money to be raised and will enable CATH to offer additional Sleep Out participants in Perth support and services to individuals who access our services.
“One such initiative is to offer free meals from January 8 until February 2 at our day centre to individuals who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.
“We have also been able to plan a timetable of events, groups and activities at the day centre to help individuals develop their soft skills, such as better communication, teamwork, increase confidence and boost self esteem.
“This has only been made possible because of donations from our sleep out event and the Craigie lights switch on donation.
“Many thanks to everyone who took part, volunteered and donated to help CATH offer the support that is greatly needed.”