The public is showing support for homelessness-tackling social enterprise Social Bite by digging into their wallets – and have donated nearly £30,000 in a day.
After the COVID-19 outbreak forced the closure of its five cafes, co-founder Josh Littlejohn announced that he will be repurposing the operation to work as a nationwide food delivery service and opened up an online fundraiser.
The cafes offer free food to those who need it and employ people who have experienced homelessness themselves. The closures, Littlejohn said, don’t only threaten the livelihoods of staff but put at risk the vulnerable people who rely on food from the cafes.
From today Social Bite – operating in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen – will re-deploy its teams to produce and deliver food to homeless people, families who were relying on free school meals, refugees and asylum seekers plus anyone plunged into food poverty by redundancy resulting from the coronavirus crisis.
The co-founder said a combination of public and government support could make it possible for the social enterprise to get 3,000 food packs out to those in poverty “for as long as is needed”.
Littlejohn said: “Like with every hospitality business all over the world the coronavirus outbreak has put Social Bite’s future into great uncertainty.
