A Valentine's mission to get the capital cuddling

IN EDINBURGH'S midday rush, on the most romantic day of the year, John Harra was on a mission to hug everyone he saw. "Hugs for everyone!" he shouted, holding a large "Free Hugs" sign over his head. "Anyone need some love on Valentine's day?"

The "Free Hug" campaign is a global phenomenon spawned by a YouTube video of a Sydney musician who battled depression by taking to the streets and offering no-strings intimacy.

Mr Harra, 22, a barista at an Edinburgh coffee shop, decided to use his day off on Valentine's to introduce the concept to Edinburgh.

"People don't get enough affection," Mr Harra explained. "People need eight to ten minutes of physical contact for their mental wellbeing. It's been documented in literature."

Free hugging began in 2004 when a young Australian named Juan Mann stationed himself in a shopping mall in Sydney. Over his head, he held a cardboard sign saying "Free Hugs".

When authorities tried to stop it, Mann got together a petition with 10,000 signatures and his friend, Shimon Moore, stuck the story on YouTube as a four-minute film.

Almost nine million people have now seen Mann's video, and many have made their own. Hugging events have sprung up in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, America, Italy, Spain and Belgium. In Sydney, a Free Hugs Day was declared on Labour Day. In China, free huggers were banned.