Social Bite’s Sleep in the Park event took over Edinburgh’s Princes Street Gardens at the weekend as over 8,000 people, made up of small corporate teams and individuals, volunteered to sleep rough for a night to raise funds and awareness to help eradicate homelessness in Scotland.

Among them were a team of seven Cullen Property representatives who raised £5,400 through generous donations in the run up to the event. Cullen Property, based in Edinburgh’s West End, then matched this figure and several subsequent donations have taken this total to over £12,000.

Cullen Property are the only Scottish property management and lettings company to make the top ten list of corporate fundraisers during the pre-event fund-raising campaign. The latest total raised for the Social Bite campaign sits at £3.6 million, but donations are still open and joint organiser, Josh Littlejohn, will announce the full amount on Christmas Eve.

Malcolm Warrack, Managing Director at Cullen Property, says: “I would like to thank everyone for their fantastic support and very generous contributions towards our fundraising for this year’s Social Bite, Sleep in the Park. We have managed to raise a significant amount for this hugely important campaign which will contribute to changing the lives of many homeless people in Scotland.

“Thank you to all the Cullen Property team members who took part – a fantastic team effort from everyone.”

Around 275 permanent housing association and council homes are to be provided to homeless people living in Edinburgh. This is in addition to over a thousand social lets already provided to homeless people each year.

Reducing homelessness remains a key priority for social landlords across the city and these additional properties are clear evidence of this continued support.

The extra properties are being provided through the EdIndex Partnership, which is made up of representatives from the City of Edinburgh Council and 19 partner registered social landlords. The homes will be provided in the 18-month period from April 2018 to September 2019.

If required, a range of supports including the Housing First model will be piloted in partnership with third sector providers and Social Bite to assist tenants to remain in their homes.

Council Leader, Adam McVey, said: “Last month, we announced the creation of a cross party homelessness task force to address the unprecedented pressures facing our services, with demand for both permanent and temporary accommodation exceeding supply.
“Today’s announcement of an additional 275 permanent homes is a valuable addition to the work already being done with our partners across the city offering an extensive range of services to people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless, from support and advice on housing options, to assessment services and permanent and temporary accommodation.

“Homelessness prevention is obviously a key priority and along with the Council, housing association landlords already provide housing for a high proportion of homeless households in Edinburgh as well supporting households with other needs for housing due to mobility difficulties and overcrowding.

“In recognition of the shortage of affordable housing in Edinburgh we have also committed to building 20,000 new affordable homes in the city in the next 10 years.”

Josh Littlejohn MBE, co-founder of Social Bite, said: “I would like to thank EdIndex for their bold leadership in tackling this issue. I would also like to thank the City of Edinburgh Council leadership Adam McVey and Cammy Day for having such a strong vision for Edinburgh’s most vulnerable people.

“A significant amount of the money raised by Sleep in the Park will be invested to make sure that this commitment to housing is paired with fantastic support.

“We’ll work with a range of Scottish charities and leading minds in housing and homelessness to help map out the support people will require to get back on their feet. We will also work hand in hand with the Scottish Government action group to make sure our approach is joined up with the ongoing work to tackle homelessness.”

Further information

The EdIndex Partnership has operated a common housing register in Edinburgh since 2003. People looking for homes only have to complete a single application form to register for housing with the Council and 19 partner housing associations in the city.

The majority of homes available to rent are advertised through Key to Choice. Available homes are advertised weekly and people indicate homes that they wish to be considered for.

The Edindex Partnership operates through a management board made up of the Council and representatives from six housing association partner landlords. The Board manages the successful operation of the register and also the strategic approach to housing allocations and homelessness.

Homelessness and inclusion charity Cyrenians are delighted to have appointed a Manager for the Social Bite Village.

The Social Bite Village will provide a home for up to 20 people affected by homelessness. Cyrenians have almost 50 years’ experience in delivering residential community models to those affected by homelessness. The charity is now journeying with Social Bite by providing the support and care for the community of the purpose built village located in Granton.

The aim of the village is to empower residents with the skills required to maintain an independent and meaningful life away from homelessness and the issues which may have contributed to their homeless experience e.g. unemployment, relationship breakdown, debt, addiction, mental health.

Cyrenians have appointed an internal member of staff to the role of Manager for the village. Kathy Hoyle started her career as a professional chef before gaining a degree in Social Anthropology with Development. She joined Cyrenians as a volunteer in 2006 before moving into a job at Cyrenians Communities, supporting young people directly affected by homelessness. After this, Kathy took on a role supporting people to maintain accommodation in the private rented sector as an alternative to homelessness, before spending 4 years working for Cyrenians Homeless Prevention Service and then joining Cyrenians Fareshare Depot as Deputy Manager in 2012.

Kathy has a wealth of knowledge and experience in supporting those affected by the tough realties of homelessness; she is professional, genuine, caring, highly personable and committed to making the village a great success.

Kathy said: “I am thrilled to be managing such an exciting and innovative project. The village has the potential to be an enormously transformative and supportive place for people to live whilst they tackle some complex challenges. With the support of Cyrenians, the residents will have an opportunity to live in a community where they will be given the space to form relationships and build up skills. This feels like an opportunity for us to make history and I am very excited to be part of that.”

Kathy will be taking part in Social Bite’s Sleep in the Park event on 9th December, and she will be at the Cyrenians stall. She welcomes people to come and have a chat and ask any questions they might have about the village.

The Homeless Navigator Project is a new Comic Relief and Essential Edinburgh funded service within Cyrenians that seeks to address a visible problem with rough sleeping in Edinburgh.

The project aims to offer an alternative opportunity for people who are experiencing homelessness and cannot, for whatever reason, make use of the current support services that exist in Edinburgh. The Homeless Navigator Project offers a peer support service, delivered by someone with lived experience of homelessness, for those who are rough sleeping or vulnerably housed.

Recent research by Crisis shows that homelessness in Britain is projected to double by 2041. Another report by Shelter Scotland suggests that figures of people sleeping on the streets might actually be higher than imagined as some people do not seek the help they need. With that in mind, the Homeless Navigator Project will offer rough sleepers a chance to speak to someone who has been homeless and understands the challenges involved.

The Homeless Navigators, who are a combination of peer workers with lived experience of homelessness and experts by training, will tour around Edinburgh on foot. They will identify people who are sleeping on the streets in order to form supportive relationships and increase their uptake of services such as Housing, Health, Employability and Substance Misuse.

When working with marginalized and vulnerable people, establishing trust is crucial. A peer approach works on the basis that someone who has experienced the same difficulties is motivated by positive, caring reasons – they have been there themselves and they know how challenging it can be.
There are no eligibility criteria or referrals into the project – the team will actively seek out and build relationships with people who are on the streets and offer them support. If you wish to find out more about the service or make us aware of someone spending time on the streets who would like some help then please contact us on 0131 475 2354.

The Homeless Navigator Project is part of the Outreach team at Cyrenians. Outreach at Cyrenians is a group of services that promote the inclusion of people who experience homelessness as well as other disadvantages, such as poverty, poor mental health and substance misuse. The Outreach team builds trusting relationships with people in order to allow them to achieve their goals using a combination of expertise by training and lived experience.

Manager of the Cyrenians Outreach team, Mike Wright said: “This is a valuable opportunity for our new Outreach workers to take their experience of life on the streets and to provide person-centred, caring, insightful support for those who are unable to access other forms of support.”

More information on Cyrenians and this project is available at www.cyrenians.scot