FAQS

No they do not. Wee Sleep Outs can take place outdoors if this works for a specific group, as long as there is an indoor contingency plan in case the weather turns bad and you have to take cover. Wee Sleep Outs can also take place indoors, and when you register online you'll receive our Event Pack, where you’ll find plenty of ways to keep the evening themed around homelessness.

If you do decide to take your event outside, remember to think about things like toilets, first aid kit, and having plenty of the correct gear to keep you warm and safe for the night.

Yes! Some groups may not be able to secure overnight use of their facility, or have young people who want to get involved who are too young to stay away from home overnight. In these cases a great alternative is to do a daytime or evening event instead, so that you don’t miss out on being part of this exciting national movement. You are also most welcome to take part by organising a fundraising activity as an alternative.

Every Wee Sleep Out will require a supporting adult to register on our website. There are two options for this:

1. Through a school or youth group: the person registering for this option must be a teaching practitioner, or a registered youth organisation leader. They must be aged 18 or over by the closing date of 30th November 2019, and they must be a member of the PVG Scheme.

2. At home: the person registering for this option must be the legal parent or guardian of at least one of the young people that will be participating in their Wee Sleep Out event, and the owner/tenant of the property where you'll be hosting your Wee Sleep Out. This person must be aged 18 or over by the closing date of 30th November 2019.

Last year we advertised Wee Sleep Out for 8 – 16 year olds. What we discovered was that not only were there under 8s who cared too and wanted to take part at home, there were also a lot of high schools who wanted their senior year groups to help plan and participate. So this year we've opened up our age range to include any young people under 18 who want to help. To allow for safeguarding, it's only right that the age of those chaperoning the event is higher than those taking part, and as such, we're asking that supporting adults be over 18.

Last year we discovered that some wee ones feel too young to participate, while others feel passionate and able to be involved in some way (whether on the living room floor or in the back garden with siblings and friends). So this year we're leaving it up to the supporting adults in place. We ask you to use your common sense and put all young people's safety and comfort first - you'll know better than us whether a wee one is old enough to take part or not.

Because Social Bite cannot attend all Wee Sleep Out events, Social Bite will not hold responsibility for any Wee Sleep Outs. Events are the sole responsibility of the supporting adult who registers for Wee Sleep Out and the chaperones who help them. Every event should be co-designed and delivered by young people as much as possible.

This year the Wee Sleep Out Team is participating in organising two events – one which is being hosted at the Virgin Money Lounge and one at Gleneagles Hotel. Other events will be organised independently of Social Bite by young people and their supporting adults in their own communities. Social Bite will provide necessary guidance through online resources and additional information can be provided upon request. 

We'd love it if as many Wee Sleep Outs as possible were held on the weekend of the 6th-7th of December 2019. However, we know that this weekend might not work for everyone and so this is at the discretion of event organisers. Keep in mind that our fundraising total will be announced on Christmas Eve 2019, so you'll want any fundraising you do to be logged on your Virgin Money Giving fundraising page, before Christmas Eve.

Wee Sleep Out is open to all of Scotland! Event venues should be decided upon by event organisers i.e. children, young people and their supporting adult(s). We've included guidance on where events could take place in the Wee Sleep Out Event Pack which you will receive upon registration.

Registration for Wee Sleep Out will close at midnight on the 30th November 2019 to ensure organisers have at least a week to plan their event.

Once you register you will receive our Event Guide, where the Wee Sleep Out team have put together all the necessary information for your event planning and inspiration. It is also a good idea to search through our Resource page. Lastly, we would recommend checking out our social media (Instagram @weesleepout, Facebook @weesleepout, Twitter @weesleepout) as we post case studies of particularly good Wee Sleep Outs from last year! 

There is no signup fee or initial donation for Wee Sleep Out. We do not want to highlight any financial differences between families or areas, and as such we have not provided a minimum fundraising target. However, we do encourage you to talk amongst your group and decide on a target that feels achievable, as this can really help to motivate your team (as well as being a great buzz if you smash your target!). If your group feels that for any reason they cannot fundraise, this is absolutely fine too – raising awareness is also a worthwhile exercise.

Schools and organisations must refer to their own Child Protection Policy and policies on residential experiences in order to understand who qualifies as a suitable chaperone/supervisor for the event. Our advice is to always choose people who are a member of the PVG scheme and have therefore had background checks ran on them and have been deemed able to work with children and young people by Disclosure Scotland.
If you are hosting a Wee Sleep Out at home, you must be the legal parent/guardian (aged 18+) of at least one of the young people participating, and any helper should be a known person to you who is trusted, safe and responsible. “Trusted” means known and respected by parents, teachers and/or youth clubs in your area, and agreed upon by all legal parents and guardians of those attending.

Your fundraising will help fund the work that Social Bite currently does for the homeless community in Scotland, including funding our 830 Homes Housing First programme run in partnership with the Scottish Government, our free food give away which last year saw over 140,000 items of food and drink given to the homeless community throughout Scotland, and the support we offer to those experiencing homelessness. We'll post a short video in the coming months to explain where all the money goes! To find out more about Social Bite's work you can also head over to our website by clicking here

Virgin Money Giving support team can be contacted directly on 03456 01 10 45. Phone lines are open Monday to Friday, 9am – 5.30pm. Alternatively, our Wee Sleep Out team will be happy to help and you can get in touch with us on any of our info listed on our Contact Us page.

A paying-in form with instructions, as well as our Sponsor Sheet is available for download on our Resource page.

The Wee Sleep Out team are here to answer any questions you have before you sign up to Wee Sleep Out. Once you have registered, you will be sent a Wee Sleep Out Event Pack to help you plan and deliver your event as well as having the Wee Sleep Out team on the other end of an email or phone call in the lead up. We'll also be providing workshops both in person and online, and there are plenty of other downloadable resources on this website under our “Workshops & Resources” tab. To enquire about a workshop or anything else get in touch with us on any of our info listed on our Contact Us page.