Twelve of Eildon’s housing staff volunteered to sleep rough in Edinburgh’s Princes Street Gardens in the world’s biggest ever planned sleep-out on Saturday 9 December, alongside celebrities and sports personalities and figures from across all political parties.

The staff were among over 8,000 participants in support of Social Bite’s fundraiser which aims to help eradicate homelessness in Scotland.

The pledge being made by Social Bite is: “By raising funds and working together, we can stop the sticky plaster mentality and get to the root issues to eradicate homelessness over a 5-year period by providing people with housing, rehabilitation, job opportunities and the support they need to get back on their feet.”

Temperatures on Saturday 9 December certainly were sub-zero and dipped to -6 degrees. One of the Eildon ‘Sub-Zero Heroes’ team, Hilary Scott, said: “We slept out in one of the coldest nights this year to help raise money for Social Bite and their mission to eradicate homelessness in Scotland. Sleeping out was a thought-provoking experience for us – during the evening we heard from a number of people who have experienced rough sleeping, and then we had the remainder of the night (which was absolutely freezing) to experience it for ourselves. Our day jobs are in housing, and we are pleased to have played a part in raising awareness of this important issue and the need for us to think differently about solutions.”

The team would like to thank partner organisations for all their support and kind donations as well as the money still pouring in from colleagues, friends and family. At the time of going to print the funds collected were in excess of £5,000. Each participant had been asked to raise a £100 so this figure is truly remarkable.

If you would like to donate, there is still time, so please visit the Sub-Zero Heroes page.