Spending a night on the tiles for good cause

Two kind men from Bearsden will give up their warm beds to sleep rough in Glasgow tonight (Thursday) to raise money for a homeless charity.

Peter Feerick (55) and Iain Little (26) from Westerton are two of the eight-strong team of Glasgow Helping Hands Committee at Hymans Robertson who will be sleeping on the rooftop of the six-storey high Glasgow City Mission building.

The team could endure the worst of Scottish weather with wind and rain, and temperatures below zero predicted.

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Peter said: “If we can help raise awareness of what the Glasgow City Mission does and what we can do to help, it will be worth a long night out in the cold.”

Iain Little added: “It’s even colder just a few floors up! However, we will all get up and have something to eat before going in to work the next day, a nice warm and dry place to be.”

Peter’s wife, Fay, who recently learnt to crochet, has made a mat for him to sleep on made from used plastic carrier bags. Their daughter Emily (9) created flyers which they posted to neighbours to ask for carrier bags and she helped her mother flatten, cut and loop them to make plastic yarn, or “plarn”.

Fay said: “I saw how to do it on YouTube. I know that Glasgow City Mission has a night shelter and doesn’t need these mats, however, the cold penetrates further into the body during the night and can cause severe aches and pains. The mat keeps the body off the ground, it’s waterproof and it traps the air. By doing this for Peter, we hope his night is improved somewhat.”

The Glasgow Helping Hands team helps charities throughout the year.

To support the cause and find out more visit www.justgiving.com/glasgowcitymission or www.justgiving.com/teams/HelpingHandsSleepout

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