Rock On For a quarter of a century, Rock Trust have shone a light on the difficulties faced by those threatened by homelessness. Past participants in their Sleep Outs talk us through the experience ahead of this year’s event
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wenty-five years ago, a small group of people voluntarily swapped their comfortable beds to spend a restless night outside Edinburgh’s St Andrew’s and St George’s West Church. Since then, Rock Trust’s Sleep Out has grown into a major annual event. Over 2000 participants have helped raise over £500,000 towards services for local teenagers and young adults enduring, or who are threatened by, homelessness. Those who do not have a warm home or bed to take for granted. From its earliest years, Sleep Out gave a tiny glimpse of circumstances that would otherwise be unimaginable to its participants. Alex Smith took part in one of the first Sleep Outs, back in 1995, and recalls it as one of the most memorable experiences from her time at university: “It was a meaningful way for our group of friends to get some perspective on our own lives and a better appreciation of the difficulties faced by those forced on to the streets. We did have fun despite the cold, and most importantly we raised awareness and funds to help ensure other young people didn’t end up sleeping rough.” Smith recently got back in touch with Rock Trust and is now on the board of trustees. Former board member Simon Jaquet, Chair of Edinburgh Youth Work Consortium, would agree with Smith. “Very few people have slept out on the streets in Scotland willingly. For those taking part in a Sleep Out it can be very instructive, giving a small sense of the conditions so
many people are forced to experience.” It’s this measure of empathy and insight Omar Shabana, of the Edinburgh University Islamic Society, took from last year’s Sleep Out: “I was still wide awake when the first droplets of rain started falling on us at 5am. I huddled up deep inside my sleeping bag. I could hear the gentle droplets, it was the same noise you hear on your window on a rainy night. I thought I was completely safe, only to wake up and find that half my body was drenched and the cardboard beneath me was disintegrating.” Sabana adds: “I couldn’t believe how much I missed my bed. I couldn’t believe how deeply I slept that morning when I got home. It’s hard to believe that some people don’t have beds to go back to, that by being in that position for so long they could become part of the background, ignored. I don’t know how anyone copes with that. There are so many things that I discovered that night. It was an eye opening experience.” Sleep Out has become a cornerstone of Rock Trust’s work. The original night in 1993 raised enough funds to secure a flat and the charity can now count over 40 places of accommodation. It supports over 400 people, in many ways, every year across Edinburgh and the Lothians. The charity gives advice, education and practical support to those in need. Support includes drop-in groups and help with new skills – from writing CVs to skills in the arts, including filmmaking and music.
Interview: Ben Venables
Rock Trust Sleep Out 2017
This year not only marks a special quartercentury anniversary for Sleep Out, but sees it move to St Andrew Square. For the last few years the event has taken place at Festival Square, and they have held a parallel event exclusively for young people aged 12-18 at the original location on George Street, which continues this year. For Rock Trust’s CEO Kate Polson, Sleep Out is “not about replicating the misery and hardships faced by people sleeping rough. It is just one night in the year.” But, it can act as a spark for ongoing social change; raising awareness,
funds and in offering a rewarding experience for its participants: “They wake up in the morning after trying to sleep on cardboard in the cold drizzle, and on the way back to their home and a hot shower, they think deeply about the reality of the experience they’ve just had a glimpse of.” The 2018 Rock Trust Sleep Out takes place on 26 Oct. If you’re interested in participating, check rocktrust.org/ sleep-out for details rocktrust.org
Working Comedians Showcasing a host of exciting new acts, comedian Siân Davies is taking her crowdfunded show Best in Class to this year’s Fringe
hampioning working-class comics, Best in Class is giving nine acts the chance to perform at the Fringe with no costs to themselves. The aim is to showcase talented workingclass comedians chronically underrepresented, both in Edinburgh and the arts in general. As Siân Davies puts it, Best in Class is an antidote to the current system. “I wanted to do something to make a change. I think a lot of people are talking
about how there’s not any working class representation and how difficult it is for working people to perform at the Fringe because of the rising costs... I had a bad experience myself, whereby I was dropped from an audition because I didn’t have the money to go and do it and I thought ‘this isn’t right’.” Indeed, Davies decided to take positive action and help other acts facing similar
Siân Davies
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Photo: Andy Hollingworth
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Interview: James McColl
obstacles. “It was made clear to me that it wasn’t the done thing, and I just thought well, why not? We’ve been really successful in fundraising because people believe in the comedians we’ve selected and people want us to do well.” Davies is using Kickstarter to raise money for Best in Class, a stand against the overwhelming disproportionately middle class takeover of the Fringe and the cultural pricing-out of working-class performers. With fundraising shows in London, Manchester and Liverpool helping the effort, these showcases also direct attention to the online crowd fund. “It’s all crowdfunded and it’s profit sharing as well. Everyone is going to get a share of any profit we make at the end of it. No one has to pay to be a part of it. I’ve put in the money myself… and we’ve been crowdfunding to make that back.” Ultimately, the hope is that the financial drain of costly Fringe accommodation, travel, venue hire and time away from work will not deter working-class acts from the biggest arts festival in the world, which is also a major talent scouting event for the industry. Over a hundred acts applied for these limited slots, a testament to the need of such a showcase and to the Fringe’s lack of class diversity and accessibility. “I probably could have staffed the show just from people that I know from the circuit but I didn’t want to do that. I wanted to get people from
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different areas, people from different cities, people that represent different viewpoints. That’s the whole point; we’re all working class but my experience of being working class is not going to be the same as the next person’s experience of being working class.” Recently published figures from a sociological study on social mobility in the cultural industries show that on average, less than 20% of people working in the creative sector (taken from a range of different industries) identify as working class. “It’s easy to discriminate against working-class people because we don’t fit into a tick box,” says Davies. “There’s different things contributing to it and if I’m honest, I can’t even define it. People ask me to define it and I think well, it is really difficult to… that’s why no one in the industry says ‘let’s get these working-class comedians in’, because people start asking questions.” She adds: “If you look at any kind of struggles for any sort of equality or recognition, unfortunately it always does come from the bottom up… it’s about making the people at the top take notice.” Best in Class runs daily at the Free Festival venue Laughing Horse @ Harry’s Southside, 12pm, 2-26 Aug. It includes Vince Atta, Lindsey Santoro, Tom Mayhew, Cheekykita, Drew Taylor, Jamie Hutchinson, Nena Edwards, Kathryn Mather and is compered by Siân Davies You can support the Best in Class project via Kickstarter
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