OLYMPIC gold medallist Sir Chris Hoy has teamed with up with charity Social Bite on a £1 million fundraising campaign aiming to build new villages for homeless people in Glasgow and London.
Hoy will take part in the Break the Cycle campaign – a 60-mile charity bike ride from Glasgow to Edinburgh.
Those signing up to ride alongside Hoy will be asked to raise £1000 to enter and will be in with a chance of winning prizes, from a medal signed by the Olympian to naming a house at one of the villages.
The Break the Cycle ride takes place on September 5 setting off from the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow to head to the finish line near the flagship Social Bite Village in Granton, Edinburgh.
Since launching in May 2018, Social Bite’s Edinburgh Village, run with the Cyrenians, has provided accommodation and support to 39 people: 82% of whom either still live there or have moved on to a positive destination.
As well as the cycle, people from across the UK are invited to take part in the campaign through their own virtual challenges from March to September.
Hoy said: “I have supported Social Bite by sleeping under the stars each year at their mass participation sleepout events for the last four years.
“I have seen the impact of the funds raised and I am passionate about supporting the bold approach to breaking the cycle of homelessness.
“I know times have been incredibly tough of late but I’d encourage everyone to get involved and help raise the funds needed for this extraordinary project and take on their own challenges over the coming weeks and months. I look forward to see those taking part at the starting line.”
Social Bite co-founder Josh Littlejohn said: “It’s an honour for us to have one of the country’s biggest sporting heroes support us in our effort to build two new villages for people in a situation of homelessness.”
The charity said 10% of campaign funds will go to SAMH, the Scottish Association for Mental Health.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here