Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty
Special offer: Receive 12 issues for just £12!
Subscribe today
Opinion

Kindness is needed to tackle homelessness – and not just at Christmas

Josh Littlejohn, founder of homelessness charity Social Bite, on why kindness is needed this Christmas – and year-round

Social Bite's tree of kindness in Edinburgh

Social Bite's tree at the charity's Festival of Kindness in Edinburgh. Image: Social Bite

As homelessness surges across the UK, the festive season offers the perfect opportunity to address more than just the housing crisis – it’s a chance to redefine how we treat one another.

At Social Bite, we’ve been opening our doors to serve free Christmas meals with all the trimmings to anyone who needs it for 10 years. A decade later, economic challenges facing society at large have meant that homelessness statistics have worsened, affecting more people in more ways and for longer periods.

Social Bite has backed the call to declare a national housing emergency in Scotland as the issue has reached a crisis point in many of our towns and cities. In Edinburgh, there’s been a 5% increase in homelessness applications year-on-year. In Glasgow, that number rises to 15%, and the number of households living in temporary accommodation in the city has increased to over 3,000 in the past 12 months.

Meanwhile in England, the number of people living in temporary accommodation has soared to the highest point since records began more than 25 years ago. It’s bleak: one in 200 UK households are experiencing homelessness – the highest rate in Europe. 

While these numbers paint a grim picture, the real crisis lies beyond the statistics. It’s easy to get caught up in the stats – and they certainly are shocking. But this isn’t just about a lack of social housing, the cost-of-living crisis or cuts to council funding. It’s about how we treat other human beings.

Increasingly, organisations in the homelessness sector are recognising that homelessness is a social problem. Simon Community Scotland refer to homelessness as ‘a people emergency, not a housing emergency.’ At Cyrenians, they’re drawing attention to homelessness as a public health concern. At Social Bite, we believe that kindness also plays a part in ending homelessness.

Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty
Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty

This belief in kindness shaped our response a decade ago and continues to guide us today. That first Christmas, back in 2014, I experienced a Christmas miracle. It came in the form of 36,000 Christmas dinner donations, funded by generous Scots via the voucher platform itison.com. Ever since, we’ve tried to embody that generosity of spirit in the services we provide. We believe free food underscores the transformative power of kindness, proving that small acts of compassion can create community, dignity, and hope.

At Christmas, Social Bite’s team run a free food service that people come back to year after year – not just for the food, but to see friends and enjoy each other’s company. For many, this gathering offers more than a meal; it’s a source of connection and belonging during an otherwise isolating time.When there’s no public transport, some people will walk an hour each way for Christmas Day in a loving environment.

One regular, Jim, describes it this way: “Social Bite has no air or graces. People offer support, help, and kindness without expecting any return. You meet people from all walks of life, pensioners, young people, addicts, different faces from many places. Christmas at Social Bite is special as its [sic] full of fun, enjoyment, happiness. Nobody is excluded and everyone is equal.”

Jim’s words remind us that simple acts of kindness can have a profound impact. Over the years, I’ve seen countless examples of people embracing opportunities to show kindness and compassion, and each time, it fills me with inspiration, awe, and hope. This is never truer than at Christmas.

So, if you see someone affected by homelessness this winter – show them kindness. That may be a smile and a chat. It could be purchasing a Big Issue or making a £5 donation to Social Bite to buy a Christmas dinner. Or maybe it’s raising your voice to advocate for change. We each have the power to make a difference, so let’s ensure no one feels invisible or forgotten during the holidays.

The Social Bite Festival of Kindness has been running across the UK for years. Launching in Edinburgh five years ago, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Dundee and London soon received their own trees where local people can hand-deliver gifts, essential items and donate towards a hot meal for people who are homeless and vulnerable over the festive period.

The initiative encourages people from across the country to help spread some joy to people who need it. Kind-hearted donators can bring a gift to one of the trees, located in Scottish cities and in London, or donate online.

For a full list of essential items needed, and to make a donation online, visit: social-bite.co.uk/festival-of-kindness/.

  • Dundee – Union Street
  • Glasgow – Vinicombe Street
  • Edinburgh – Castle Street & the Pitt Market, Granton
  • London – the Strand, outside Charing Cross station
  • Aberdeen – outside the Bon Accord Centre

Josh Littlejohn is founder of homelessness charity Social Bite.

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this? Get in touch and tell us more. This Christmas, you can make a lasting change on a vendor’s life. Buy a magazine from your local vendor in the street every week. If you can’t reach them, buy a Vendor Support Kit.

Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty

READER-SUPPORTED SINCE 1991

Reader-supported journalism that doesn’t just report problems, it helps solve them.

Recommended for you

View all
Teaching five-year-olds about grief isn't morbid – it's necessary
Rowan Humphries-Massey

Teaching five-year-olds about grief isn't morbid – it's necessary

Working parents can now get 30 hours of free childcare. But do the numbers add up?
Erin Mansell

Working parents can now get 30 hours of free childcare. But do the numbers add up?

Wildfire, cheese, tap dancing and buses: Robin Ince's Edinburgh Fringe 2025
Robin Ince

Wildfire, cheese, tap dancing and buses: Robin Ince's Edinburgh Fringe 2025

Turns out Nigel Farage isn't prime minister. So why does he get so much airtime?
Paul McNamee

Turns out Nigel Farage isn't prime minister. So why does he get so much airtime?

Most Popular

Read All
Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits
Renters: A mortgage lender's window advertising buy-to-let products
1.

Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal
Pound coins on a piece of paper with disability living allowancve
2.

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal

Cost of living payments: Where to get help in 2025 now the scheme is over
next dwp cost of living payment 2023
3.

Cost of living payments: Where to get help in 2025 now the scheme is over

Citroën Ami: the tiny electric vehicle driving change with The Big Issue
4.

Citroën Ami: the tiny electric vehicle driving change with The Big Issue