Social Bite

Social Bite is a Scottish social enterprise set up by Josh Littlejohn MBE[1] and Alice Thompson. The organisation is run on a not-for-profit basis and a quarter of the company’s staff are from homeless and severely excluded backgrounds. In 2017 the organisation launched a mass movement with the mission of eradicating homelessness in Scotland. The central focus of this movement was a mass participation Sleep Out where 8,000 people slept out to raise £4 Million for homelessness and galvanise political momentum on the homelessness issue in Scotland [2]

It operates five sandwich shops in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen with a central production kitchen in Livingston.[3] It also runs staff canteens and a corporate catering operation.

Feeding the homeless

The shops run a ‘pay it forward’ service[4][5] where customers can pre-pay for meals for the homeless. Social Bite distributes over 100,000 items of food and hot drinks to homeless people every year[6] and opens up its shops for “Social Suppers” in the evenings,[7] where homeless people to sit in for hot food and engage them in support services to help them out of the situation.

Restaurant

In August 2016, Social Bite partnered with Scottish restaurant Maison Bleue to open new venue Home.[8] The restaurant employs a mix of professional staff and participants of the Social Bite Academy,[9] the organisation’s four year, paid course for homeless people.

The restaurant has been supported by various Michelin Star Chefs including Dean Gassabi, Martin Wishart, Tom Kitchin and Nick Nairn

Celebrity endorsement

In November 2015 George Clooney visited a Social Bite shop and donated $1,000 (about £650) to the organisation. George Clooney praised the organisation showing that is demonstrated: "That we can all participate in each others difficulties and that is very important" [10] In November 2016 Social Bite’s Home restaurant hosted a lunch for Leonardo DiCaprio.[11]

Social Bite Village

In November 2016, Social Bite announced that it was to partner with EDI Group and City of Edinburgh Council to create the Social Bite Village,[12] an innovative, low cost, supervised, safe living environment for up to 20 homeless people for around 12 months each.

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said about the project:

"Social Bite is playing a key role - giving people the work experience and confidence to help them on their way to a more stable and secure quality of life. The homeless village will be another vital step in helping people out of homelessness in the long term, and I hope the money raised from Social Bite's Sleep Out will make a considerable contribution towards making it a reality.[13]

Sleep in the Park

On December 15, 2016 Social Bite organised a CEO sleep-out where over 300 eminent Scots from the worlds of industry, academia, food & drink, leisure, politics and media slept rough in central Edinburgh.[14]

On December 9, 2017, Social Bite organised the World's largest ever sleep out, and event called Sleep in the Park. 8,000 slept out in -6 degrees in Princes St Gardens in Edinburgh in an event which has a mission to catalyse a movement to end homelessness in Scotland. The event featured performances from Liam Gallagher, Deacon Blue and a Bedtime Story from John Cleese. It also saw activist Sir Bob Geldof, Olympian Sir Chris Hoy and comedian Rob Brydon sleep out in the cold with the public.[15]

References

  1. ↑ "Who is Social Bite co-founder Josh Littlejohn? Here's what we know". The Scottish Sun. 2016-12-30. Retrieved 2017-02-08.
  2. ↑ "Temperatures plummet as thousands take part in Sleep in the Park". BBC News. Retrieved 2017-12-10.
  3. ↑ "Social Bite Village to open in Edinburgh next summer". Third Force News. Retrieved 2017-02-08.
  4. ↑ "First homeless guests dine in style at Edinburgh restaurant - Scottish Housing News". Scottish Housing News. 2016-10-18. Retrieved 2017-02-08.
  5. ↑ "The high-class restaurant tackling homelessness head-on". iNews. 2016-10-14. Retrieved 2017-02-08.
  6. ↑ McGuire, Tony (2016-12-12). "Social Bite hopes £5 Christmas Dinners for the homeless will help build village". dailyrecord. Retrieved 2017-02-08.
  7. ↑ "What is Social Bite and where is Home in Edinburgh?". The Sun. 2016-11-18. Retrieved 2017-02-08.
  8. ↑ "Scotland's first restaurant to help homeless set for weekend launch in Edinburgh". www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com. Retrieved 2017-02-08.
  9. ↑ "Michelin-star chef to cook for Social Bite". www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com. Retrieved 2017-02-08.
  10. ↑ Lewis, Tim (2016-10-16). "OFM Awards 2016 outstanding achievement: Social Bite". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2017-02-08.
  11. ↑ "Leonardo DiCaprio visits Edinburgh restaurant to help the homeless". ITV News. Retrieved 2017-02-08.
  12. ↑ correspondent, Libby Brooks Scotland (2016-11-23). "Scottish homelessness charity plans village of low-cost eco homes". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2017-02-08.
  13. ↑ "Hundreds of prominent Scots sleep out for homeless charity". BBC News. Retrieved 2016-12-16.
  14. ↑ "First Minister serves breakfast to Social Bite rough sleepers". www.scotsman.com. Retrieved 2017-02-08.
  15. ↑ "Thousands brave freezing night for Sleep in the Park and help raise £3.6m to end homelessness". The Times. Retrieved 2017-12-11.
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