Laois homeless charity saves around 2,000 Electric Picnic sleeping bags

The Laois Homeless Charity, PATH, managed to collect around 2,000 sleeping bags from this year’s Electric Picnic campsites.

Portlaoise Action to Homelessness (PATH) volunteers collect sleeping bags from the campsite each year after the festival ends with the goal of salvaging the gear and giving it to homeless people.

As campers left the site in Stradbally last Monday, August 31, PATH volunteers made their way through the piles of sleeping bags abandoned at the site and managed to salvage around 2,000.

The group then gathered at Laois Shopping Centre on Thursday evening, September 3 where people could collect the rescued sleeping bags to clean them before they are given to people who need them.

Unfortunately, only 250 sleeping bags were collected to be cleaned on Thursday.

The Vice Chairperson of the Laois homeless charity, Jason McEvoy, told the Leinster Express that the heavy rain last week may have stopped some people from being able to attend the collection.

The group will meet again this Thursday, September 10 at 6.30pm at Laois Shopping Centre where those who have already collected sleeping bags will be able to return them cleaned and ready for the homeless.

The PATH Vice Chairperson added that people will also be able to collect some of the remaining sleeping bags to be cleaned, as just a quarter of those gathered from the campsites have been collected for cleaning so far.

Mr McEvoy appealed for more support from people to help the nation’s homeless.