NINE teenagers have swapped the warmth of their beds for a night sleeping on an Edinburgh street for charity.

The youngsters, aged between 13 and 15, are members of the 1st Dunbar Boys’ Brigade and joined more than 40 other youngsters last Friday night on George Street.

Sandy Mitchell, captain of the Dunbar group, said the teenagers were delighted to do their bit to support The Rock Trust.

The charity works with young people between the ages of 16 and 25 who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. It aims to enable them to build the professional skills and resources required to make a positive and healthy transition to adulthood, while avoiding or moving on from homelessness.

Mr Mitchell, who was joined on the night by parent helper Rachel Marshall, told the Courier: “The boys did a sleep out outside St Andrew’s and St George’s West Church.

“What the boys did, mainly through sponsorship, was raise about £1,200.

“What it involved them doing was they had to sleep out on the pavement in a sleeping bag.

“They were all pretty tired – as was I – and it gave them a realisation of what it would be like living on the street.

“What surprised them and me was not so much the cold, they were prepared for that, but the noise.”

The youngsters turned up at 7pm, with The Rock Trust having put on entertainment, including a street magician. But by 11pm, everyone was getting ready to go to sleep.

Mr Mitchell said people then started coming out of pubs, with people walking by before bin lorries came early the next day.

Everyone was then woken before 7am and the Boys’ Brigade members were back in Dunbar by 8am.

Mr Mitchell added: “We did well, there were no complaints, and they did well to raise the amount of money they did as well.”

It is the second time in less than two months that members of the Boys’ Brigade have done their bit for charity. In September, some abseiled down Barns Ness Lighthouse, near Dunbar, to raise almost £500 for the Bethany Trust, which works across the country to prevent homelessness.