The AFC chairman made a passionate appeal to his employees to brave the sub-zero temperatures for the night and join the thousands of people taking part in the sleep out across Scotland.

The event will take place on December 8 across four of Scotland’s major cities, Aberdeen, Dundee, Glasgow and Edinburgh. To raise even greater awareness of the event and encourage people to take part, various artists, including KT Tunstall and Amy Macdonald, will play live music at each location on the same night. There will also be a ‘Bedtime Story’ reading in each city with AFC manager, Derek McInnes, reading in Aberdeen and Irvine Welsh’s Story to be broadcast to all four sleepouts.

Volunteers for the cause will be taking part with no heaters, no tents and no home comforts.

Stewart Milne said: “I’ve looked out my sleeping bag and will be wearing as many warm clothes as possible. It will be a challenge, but a worthwhile one. We’re doing this for one evening, amongst colleagues, friends and family, whereas thousands of people do this every night alone.”

This year‘s charity event aims to involve over 10,000 people with the hope to beat last year’s fund total of £4 million.

Co-founded by Josh Littlejohn, Social Bite is a social enterprise dedicated to helping eradicate homelessness in Scotland. With 25% of its staff homeless or having experienced homelessness, it runs employment programs for people in three Scottish cities and distributes over 100,000 food items and hot drinks.

Josh Littlejohn MBE said: “People from all walks of life are getting behind Sleep in the Park, and it’s great to have a household name like Stewart Milne willing to join them in giving up his bed this Saturday night and show support for Scotland’s homeless.

“The money raised by Stewart and his team will go directly to getting people out of shelters, away from rough sleeping or cadging places to sleep and in to long-term, supported accommodation across Scotland. They’re part of a movement to actually do something about the issue.”

In recent years, Social Bite has commissioned three comprehensive studies to shape and inform the strategy for ending homelessness in Scotland.

Stewart Milne has praised the charity’s aim for a long-term solution. He said: “Every day, Stewart Milne Group is providing people with new homes, and this Social Bite event is an opportunity to raise awareness of the plight of those less fortunate and help to ensure that everyone in Scotland has a place to call home. This is a prime opportunity for our staff to get involved and help this charity to move closer to that end goal.”

To date, the construction and housebuilding company has raised almost £10,000 collectively, with more fundraising planned before the big event this weekend.