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.

## Contents

* 1 Feeding the homeless
* 2 Restaurant
* 3 Celebrity endorsement
* 4 Social Bite Village
* 5 Sleep in the Park
* 6 References

## 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" (in en-GB). The Scottish Sun. 2016-12-30. https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/news/scottish-news/362961/social-bite-co-founder-josh-littlejohn-rubs-shoulders-with-george-clooney-and-leonardo-dicaprio-but-who-is-the-man-helping-scotlands-homeless/.
2. ↑ "Temperatures plummet as thousands take part in Sleep in the Park" (in en). BBC News. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-42298993.
3. ↑ "Social Bite Village to open in Edinburgh next summer" (in en). Third Force News. http://thirdforcenews.org.uk/tfn-news/social-bite-village-to-open-in-edinburgh-next-summer.
4. ↑ "First homeless guests dine in style at Edinburgh restaurant - Scottish Housing News" (in en-GB). Scottish Housing News. 2016-10-18. http://www.scottishhousingnews.com/11917/first-homeless-guests-dine-in-style-at-edinburgh-restaurant/.
5. ↑ "The high-class restaurant tackling homelessness head-on" (in en-GB). iNews. 2016-10-14. https://inews.co.uk/essentials/lifestyle/food-and-drink/home-restaurant-social-bite-homelessness-edinburgh/.
6. ↑ McGuire, Tony (2016-12-12). "Social Bite hopes £5 Christmas Dinners for the homeless will help build village". dailyrecord. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/social-bite-build-homeless-village-9443748.
7. ↑ "What is Social Bite and where is Home in Edinburgh?" (in en-GB). The Sun. 2016-11-18. https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2210680/social-bite-home-edinburgh-leonardo-dicaprio-george-clooney-involved/.
8. ↑ "Scotland’s first restaurant to help homeless set for weekend launch in Edinburgh" (in en). http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/our-region/edinburgh/scotland-s-first-restaurant-to-help-homeless-set-for-weekend-launch-in-edinburgh-1-4237400.
9. ↑ "Michelin-star chef to cook for Social Bite" (in en). http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/our-region/edinburgh/west-end/michelin-star-chef-to-cook-for-social-bite-1-4204127.
10. ↑ Lewis, Tim (2016-10-16). "OFM Awards 2016 outstanding achievement: Social Bite" (in en-GB). The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/oct/16/ofm-awards-2016-outstanding-achievement-social-bite.
11. ↑ "Leonardo DiCaprio visits Edinburgh restaurant to help the homeless" (in en). ITV News. http://www.itv.com/news/2016-11-17/leonardo-dicaprio-visits-social-bite-restaurant-in-edinburgh-to-help-the-homeless/.
12. ↑ correspondent, Libby Brooks Scotland (2016-11-23). "Scottish homelessness charity plans village of low-cost eco homes" (in en-GB). The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/nov/24/scottish-homelessness-charity-social-bite-village-low-cost-eco-homes-edinburgh.
13. ↑ "Hundreds of prominent Scots sleep out for homeless charity" (in en). https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-38328702.
14. ↑ "First Minister serves breakfast to Social Bite rough sleepers" (in en). http://www.scotsman.com/giving-back/charities/first-minister-serves-breakfast-to-social-bite-rough-sleepers-1-4319120.
15. ↑ "Thousands brave freezing night for Sleep in the Park and help raise £3.6m to end homelessness" (in en). https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/thousands-brave-freezing-night-for-sleep-in-the-park-and-help-raise-3-6m-to-end-homelessness-wr25m0dql.

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