Speyside youngsters experience night in the cold
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A GROUP of 40 pupils from a Moray secondary spent a night outdoors to experience what life is like if you are homeless.
The Speyside High pupils were among an estimated 6000 young people across the country taking part in Social Bite’s Wee Sleep Out.
Among the youngest of those taking part at Speyside was 12-year-old Charlie Kennedy, who described it as an eye-opening experience.
The S1 pupil was sponsored to take part, raising around £130 for the Social Bite movement which is working to end homelessness.
And while it was a dry night, it certainly wasn't warm.
He said: "I wanted to take part because it is coming up to Christmas and there are quite a lot of homeless people on the streets so I wanted to do a little to help."
Pupils, ranging from S1 to S6 and accompanied by teachers, gathered at 8pm and shared some soup before readying their cardboard boxes and sleeping bags for a night under the stars.
Around 10pm, they settled down and Charlie and his schoolmates finally managed to nod off.
He said: "It felt cold and really weird, it didn't feel nice. I wasn't scared but I was cold.
"I got off to sleep and then I woke up at 4am with a cold nose and I didn't think I would get back to sleep but I did, just.
"Quite a few people told me they woke up at different times through the night too."
Charlie admitted being relieved when the sun came up.
"When I got home, I put new socks on and had a hot milk," he said.
Charlie said it was an eye-opening experience which enabled him to understand a little more about what life might be like for the homeless.
The World's Big Sleep Out campaign, founded by Josh Littlejohn MBE, originated from a small café in Edinburgh called Social Bite which started offering employment to homeless people.
The charity organised a small sleep out in 2016 with 270 participants and the events have grown each year in Scotland, culminating in a global night of solidarity.
