A campaign has been launched to collect unwanted sleeping bags to give to the homeless people living on Glasgow’s streets.
Kind-hearted Stephen Morrison, who writes the blog How Many Miles, has got together with like-minded friends to form the Heat the Homeless group.
They want to give as many sleeping bags to people forced to sleep rough on the city streets by this Christmas.
In addition, they are collecting for a target of £2,500 to buy sleeping bags for the homeless.
Stephen says: “On any given night, approximately 2,000 people are given shelter in Glasgow’s homeless accommodation, but worryingly hundreds more are sleeping rough on our streets each and every night.
“And with the bite of winter now upon us, many are in danger of freezing to death as temperatures plummet.
“We want to do something to help these people and that is why we have come up with the sleeping bag project.”
Stephen acknowledges there are some great initiatives in the city, such as Glasgow Winter Night Shelter but he reports that demand is so high that people are being turned away.
Meanwhile, many agencies, including Glasgow City Council, are coming together to form a Glasgow Alliance to End Homelessness but Stephen feels there is more that can be done.
He says: “Myself and a group of friends have decided that they can no longer walk past people shivering in doorways and that we – and that includes the wider public – can do something about it this winter.”
Donate your old sleeping bags to Heat the Homeless campaign.
Heat the Homeless
Stephen is urging people to look in their lofts, cellars and cupboards to discover unwanted or unused sleeping bags.
All sleeping bags can be handed into Langside Parish Church on Ledard Road, Battlefield, Glasgow up until Saturday December 16. The bags will then be distributed to those on the streets in the run up to Christmas.
If you don’t have a sleeping bag to donate, you can still help. Every donation, small or large, made to the Heat the Homeless JustGiving, which will go towards purchasing mats and bags for the rough sleepers of Glasgow.