The ‘sleep rough night’ will be held in Skypark’s car park on Friday 20th May 2016 and the charity is appealing for up to 40 participants to take part. It hopes to raise £4000 to help maintain vital Day Centre services with every penny used to help disadvantaged people in Glasgow.

The Marie Trust Day Centre in Glasgow provides crisis intervention for people sleeping rough in the city - including showers, toiletries, clothing, food and sleeping bags.

This event will not duplicate what it is really like to sleep rough in Glasgow but will give a small taster of what so many vulnerable people have to endure. It is a lonely and dangerous life for Glasgow’s homeless and The Marie Trust believes everyone has the right to a better life.

‘Helping homeless people to help themselves’ is the ultimate aim of The Marie Trust. Getting people out of the cycle of homelessness and re-building their lives. The Day Centre provides a start-to-finish service, from the initial crisis to getting vulnerable people out of their desperate chaotic situations into more stable, safe, dignified lives.

Catherine Lavery, fundraiser for The Marie Trust, said: “We know there is rarely a quick fix for our clients. It takes time and often a combination of supporting services to help people gain the skills, knowledge, experience and confidence to move on and return to a more mainstream way of life.

“On average, around 100 people come to the Day Centre every day, looking for help. Our services are getting busier whilst funding is being cut. This event will help the Day Centre support vulnerable people with nowhere else to turn.

“Our rough sleeping event is about raising awareness of the issue of homelessness, which is getting worse and is affecting all types of people from all backgrounds. It is impossible to be exact about the number of homeless people in the city, and it is the same for the number of people sleeping rough. What we do know, based on very low current estimates, is that at least 50 people are faced with sleeping rough on the streets of Glasgow every night. And there are at least 78 sites in and around the city regularly used by rough sleepers.”

Alasdair Roy of Bilfinger GVA, Skypark’s estates manager, explains how the business community is supporting the event.

He said: “Skypark is donating the car park to the Marie Trust so as participants will have a safe and sheltered place to spend the night. We are promoting the event, to encourage the public and our business community to get behind the Marie Trust and raise vital funds that will help make a difference to people that are sleeping rough in the city.”

The ‘Rough Night’ is supported by Skypark and McDonalds Restaurant (Finnieston Street) – providing a hot drink at bedtime and breakfast in the morning.

It costs £20 to register and participants are asked to raise a minimum fundraising level of £120. Every penny raised will be used to help the Glasgow charity help local Glasgow people.