Trade bodies get together to buy low-emission vehicles for Glasgow homeless charity

Two organisations are raising funds for a charity that lost three essential vehicles due to a new low emissions scheme.

Glasgow City Council’s new low emissions zone scheme has meant the Homeless Project Scotland (HPS) has lost three of its vehicles which are used to provide food and essentials to the city’s homeless.

The vehicles can no longer be used as they are not compliant with the scheme.

The charity already has a temporary exemption on one vehicle, valid until the end of July, but no exemption was made for the other three vehicles.

The Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) and the Scottish Hospitality Group (SHG), have launched a joint fundraiser with a goal of £30,000 to purchase replacement vehicles for HPS.

HPS runs a soup kitchen on Argyll Street, Glasgow, and has a team of street cyclists who provide food, water, clothing and immediate help to the city’s homeless, 365 days a year.

Stephen Montgomery, director of SHG, said: “Again, hospitality shows that it is willing to step up to the mark to show charitable support.

“We are all going through tough times, but the work that the Homeless Project Scotland does day-in and night-out is beyond remarkable, and we could not allow the Glasgow LEZ scheme to put at jeopardy the needs of those so heavily dependent on this charity.

“To be able to provide them with a new vehicle to carry on their work, would be an amazing achievement.”

A spokesperson for NTIA added: “It’s times like this when communities need to come together and look after those that are less fortunate, we are all facing tough times but are strength comes from our collective voice and support.

“The homeless project plays an important role within the community, but the implementation of the LEZ scheme has left them with most of their support vehicles non-compliant.

“The work they do in Glasgow is vitally important, and without doubt saves lives. We need to ensure we do everything possible to support this project to protect the vulnerable within our community.”

A spokesperson for Glasgow City Council said: “Glasgow’s plan to phase in a city centre LEZ was announced in 2018 to address decades of harmful air pollution, and since then there has been extensive communications and engagement to raise awareness of the scheme, its timescale for introduction and the availability of funding to ease compliance.

“To maximise the effectiveness of Glasgow’s LEZ, it is essential that compliance rates are as high as possible.

“This means that exemptions will only be granted in exceptional circumstances and where it can be shown that timely efforts are being made to comply with LEZ requirements.

“While the vast majority – up to 90% – of vehicles currently entering the city centre will be unaffected, the LEZ standards will address the most polluting vehicles which are disproportionately creating the harmful concentrations of air pollution in the city centre.”

Homeless Project Scotland was contacted for comment.

To support the fundraiser, visit: https://www.gofundme.com/f/scottish-hospitality-support-the-homeless-project