A Dundee councillor will be exchanging a night in her bed this weekend for a night spent… on the kitchen floor.
Lynne Short, who represents the Maryfield ward, will be “boycotting her bed” and taking part in a virtual sleep out on Friday to raise cash for Action for Children.
The charity is asking members of the public to hunker down for the night in an unusual spot, for their Boycott the Bed challenge, to help some of the most vulnerable families across the UK.
Ms Short explained that the work Action for Children does is “so important” for the city – and she’s keen to raise awareness and funds for a charity close to her heart.
She said: “The staff that work there are so dedicated and they put so much into it that I feel that I need to give them as much back, because they’re doing it for the bairns in this city.
“We talk about food poverty, we talk about period poverty and funeral poverty, but I don’t even think that people are aware that furniture poverty is a thing.
© DC Thomson“It’s not uncommon for kids to sleep on a mattress on a floor. We don’t imagine that would be the case in this day and age because it’s not something that we, ultimately, know within the realms of our knowledge.
“Boycott the Bed is a new challenge that they’ve come up with and it’s all across Britain that they’re doing it.
“They work with children right up to age 25 and I think that’s another thing that we don’t focus on – the fact that vulnerability doesn’t stop when a kid gets to 16.
“So many young people are so vulnerable to different situations and Action for Children are there to be a support system for them, which is incredibly important.
“Forty years ago, poverty was just the norm and everybody was okay with the way they lived because that was the way that everybody lived.
“My mum didn’t have a bathroom in the house or a bath until she was 16 and they went to the baths in Lochee High Street and that was the way it was.
“We now live in a society where many people have lots, but there’s lots of people who have nothing.”
Ms Short said that when the opportunity to swap her bed for somewhere a little more unfamiliar presented itself she couldn’t let it pass by.
She added: “I thought, ‘I’m going for this, I can’t not.’ I can’t count the amount of times that I’ve slept on the sofa but the kitchen floor is probably one where I’ve never done that before.”
Paul Carberry, Action for Children’s director for Scotland said: “We appreciate Councillor Lynne Short’s longstanding support of our work in Dundee and her taking part in Boycott Your Bed this Friday.
“Every person who boycotts their bed this Friday will be helping us continue to support children and families who need it most.
“During the coronavirus lockdown, our key workers have been going above and beyond to support vulnerable families, through delivering essentials to families’ doors, adapting our services to reach those who can’t come to them, or caring for children who can’t be in their own homes.
“We are asking people here in Dundee and across Scotland to Boycott Your Bed this Friday and have some fun while raising money so that Action for Children can continue to help families in need.”
Anyone wishing to donate to Ms Short’s fundraiser can do so by searching for “Councillor Lynne Short – Boycott your Bed 2020” on JustGiving.
Those wishing to take part in Boycott your Bed can do so by heading over to https://boycottyourbed.co.uk/register/.