Cyrenians

Homelessness prevention charity Cyrenians is seeking £500,000 from businesses to support its work in Edinburgh as it marks its 50th anniversary year of helping rough sleepers. The campaign is being supported by Essential Edinburgh, the Business Improvement District (BID) for Edinburgh City Centre,

Social enterprise Social Bite has officially launched its village in Edinburgh which aims to tackle homelessness by providing a safe living environment for around 20 people per year. Developed on vacant land in Granton, the Social Bite Village is made up of 11 two-bedroom nest houses intended to pro

Homelessness charity Cyrenians welcomed Queen Margaret University Chancellor and catering legend Prue Leith to Leith yesterday to open its brand new Cook School and teaching kitchen. The Cyrenians Food Education programme started 17 years ago with an old second-hand cooker, worth just £50, and is n

Kathy Hoyle Homelessness and inclusion charity Cyrenians has appointed a manager for the Social Bite Village set to provide a home for up to 20 people affected by homelessness.

Homelessness and inclusion charity Cyrenians is hosting various activities at HMP Addiewell to celebrate Book Week Scotland and Prisoners’ Week. The Family Visitors Centre at HMP Addiewell is run by the charity to support families affected by imprisonment. The facility provides families visiting l

Ligia Teixeira In a guest blog for homelessness charity Cyrenians, Dr Ligia Teixeira outlines why Crisis believes that improving outcomes at scale requires a new approach.

To mark Alcohol Awareness Week (November 13-19), Edinburgh homelessness and inclusion charity Cyrenians highlights its work to alleviate the detrimental footprint that the misuse of alcohol leaves across communities. It has been well documented by health and social care professionals, as well as deb

In an open letter in The Herald, written to coincide with Mediation Awareness Week, a number of Scottish charities have stressed the importance of early intervention in reducing the number of people presenting as homeless and have urged the Scottish Government to take note. There are two sides to ev

A new service has been launched that seeks to address a visible problem with rough sleeping in Edinburgh. The Homeless Navigator Project is a new Comic Relief and Essential Edinburgh funded service within Cyrenians that aims to offer an alternative opportunity for people who are experiencing homeles

A group of 24 Scottish charities have come together to urge the UK government to stop the roll-out of the Universal Credit system in Scotland. A major change the benefits system, Universal Credit replaces six existing benefits with one, and is designed to make the benefits process easier. The govern

Cyrenians chief executive Ewan Aitken reflects on new homelessness research from Crisis. The recent report from the excellent Heriot Watt University commissioned by Crisis as part of their 50th year anniversary predicting a 50% plus rise in homelessness is shocking, but it comes as no surprise for m

The prototype of a home which will be built in a new Social Bite village for the homeless in Edinburgh is on show in St Andrews Square during the Edinburgh Festival. The home was designed by architect Jonathan Avery from Tiny House Scotland, which builds environmentally friendly micro-houses designe

Josh Littlejohn outside the new project for Social Bite The houses for Social Bite’s new village are now under construction with members of Edinburgh’s homeless community expected to be onsite before Christmas this year, Social Bite co-founder, Josh Littlejohn MBE, confirmed today.

Businesses in Edinburgh city centre are to help fund police officers and charity workers to address issues of homelessness and begging in the area. Essential Edinburgh, the organisation which runs the city’s central Business Improvement District (BID), said the investment will go towards a multi-a

Cyrenians CEO Ewan Aitken outlines his questions for candidates in the upcoming council elections. The news that we face a snap Westminster election fills me with, at best, mixed emotions. I relish the opportunity to challenge the philosophy which has brought us welfare reforms that are demonstrably