Shelter Scotland staff and volunteers will take their campaign against the housing emergency to the streets of Edinburgh today to mark World Homeless Day.
Campaigners will be out in force at the foot of Leith Walk issuing a Housing SOS.
The charity will be highlighting the increasing number of people experiencing homelessness and asking the public to join in it in demanding urgent action to address the capital’s worsening housing emergency.
At 12:00 activists in Edinburgh will be joining campaigners in Aberdeen, Dundee and Glasgow in a “minute of noise”, letting our politicians know loud and clear that they need to act now.
World Homeless Day is marked each year on October 10th and unites activists working across the globe to end homelessness.
The latest figures released by the Scottish Government showed a 25% increase in the number of people who became homeless in Edinburgh in 2022/23, while more than 2,700 children in the city are stuck in temporary accommodation.
Shelter Scotland Director, Alison Watson, said: “Edinburgh’s housing emergency is getting worse; and across the country it is devastating lives so today we’re sending out a housing SOS.
“A household becomes homeless every 16 minutes on average, while 45 kids each day lose their home in Scotland.
“What’s so frustrating is that it doesn’t have to be like this, we know that by delivering social homes the government can end our housing emergency and give hope to the thousands of people across Scotland experiencing homelessness.
“That’s why this World Homeless Day, we’re out on the streets of Edinburgh not only demanding urgent action from those in power but urging the public to join our fight as well.
“At 12 o’clock we’ll join together to make a noise that politicians can’t ignore, to demand they make sure everyone in Edinburgh has somewhere to call home, and to remind them that none of us will be quiet until the job is done.”