Last Saturday, four girls from Arran High School made the journey from the island to Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh, where they took part in ‘Sleep in the Park’. This event, organised by the homeless charity Social Bite, involved 8000 people sleeping out in the park in order to raise money and awareness for homeless people. All four girls – L Shankland, J Miller, R Janse Van Rensburg, and L Robertson – had to raise a minimum of £100.00 each in order to take part, and they returned to school this week to reflect on everything they had learned from this unique, revealing, and powerful experience.

On their journeys to and from the event, they were met with many people thanking them for what they were doing – both homeless people and commuters. The donations and support they have received will go towards Social Bite’s five year plan to tackle homelessness in Scotland – providing new homes and accommodation, a nationwide jobs program, and addiction rehabilitation services. The girls will all be continuing to support Social Bite, fundraising for them both in and out of school, and they are keen to encourage everyone to find out more – which you can do at www.sleepinthepark.co.uk and www.social-bite.co.uk. For the girls, this has been an incredible, eye-opening experience, and one which they hope will become a tradition for Arran High School pupils each year.