30-06-2025
Sleepout challenge to take place in memory of co-founder of Ayrshire charity
The John Gilardi Legacy Sleepout Challenge 2025 will take place at Dam Park in Ayr on Saturday, July 12
An Ayrshire charity is holding a sleepout challenge in memory of its cofounder and to raise vital funds to support people facing addiction.
The John Gilardi Legacy Sleepout Challenge 2025 will take place on Saturday, July 12 to raise funds for Harbour Ayrshire.
Volunteers will be sleeping under the stars at Dam Park in Ayr with an afternoon of events planned so the whole community can get involved.
Based on Ayr's Miller Road, Harbour Ayrshire is a charity dedicated to helping people recovering from addiction.
John Gilardi helped found the charity in 2022 alongside Clive Kennedy and he was instrumental in the hugely successful first sleepout held in May 2024.
The inaugural sleepout raised £30,000 for Harbour Ayrshire.
However, John died in a car crash on 23 May 2024, just six days after the sleepout he helped organise.
A year on, the charity which recently welcomed First Minister John Swinney is looking to build on John's legacy with a sleepout in his name.
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Vicki Boland, volunteer co-ordinator for Harbour Ayrshire, said: "This is the second year of the Harbour Ayrshire sleepout. We took part in it last year and we managed to raise £30,000 for our organisation.
"Obviously, we are a charity and we rely solely on funding so this is an event where the volunteers can all get involved, we are all sleeping rough for the night and we make it a community event.
"We are asking all the community to back this and to be able to donate no matter what amount - how big or how small. Every donation counts for us to be able to continue the amazing work that we do throughout Ayrshire.
"The sleepout takes place on Saturday, July 12 at Dam Park in Ayr."
