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SOCIAL RIGHT
New tiny houses for homeless people to be built just outside Glasgow – and charity has sights on England next
Social Bite announced a tie-up with South Lanarkshire Council for a third £2.5million village
SOCIAL Bite founder Josh Littlejohn unveiled his latest plans for another homeless village yesterday - and revealed he’s been approached by a major city in England who want to copy his successful model.
The 37-year-old announced a tie-up with South Lanarkshire Council for a third £2.5million Social Bite Village this time in Rutherglen.
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That’s after his Edinburgh site opened in 2018 while a Dundee Recovery village is to be launched next year.
But Josh says: “There is an appetite from our partners to build a Social Bite village in England too. So we’re looking to explore that.
“Probably after the three here and possibly the one in England then we’ll be keen to package up the model and pass it on.
“Because by that time we will have three or possibly four different villages, with a proven track record that has been academically assessed.”
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He adds: “But it’s not rocket science. It’s just about creating a nice home for people to live and giving them some onsite support. That’s the two key ingredients.
“Even though it sounds so simple it’s vastly different from how all other homeless accommodation is.”
The proposed new site with feature 15 one bedroom, sustainable modular homes, a hub, an outdoor gym, decking and areas for planting and open in 2025.
Social Bite will spend £1.5million to manufacture all the houses and the main building while South Lanarkshire Council will spend around £1million on the infrastructure and landscape.
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He says: “This bit of wasteland doesn’t really do the local area any favours so we will be bringing it back into use.
“The thing is, everyone who visits our Edinburgh village always says, ‘This is amazing - how did you get such a beautiful site?
SOCIAL BITE PARTNER WITH NEW FLAGSHIP STORE
SOCIAL Bite have announced they are working with clothing giants UNIQLO - who launched their first and highly anticipated Scottish store in Edinburgh on Thursday.
Shoppers are expected to flock to the Princes Street store, which will showcase the full collection of LifeWear for men, women, kids and babies.
But UNIQLO has linked up with Josh Littlejohn’s charity to create in-store job opportunities for homeless people.
Josh - who was wearing a new outfit provided by UNIQLO at his Social Bite Village launch - says: “It’s a great partnership for us. When they announced plans to open their Princes Street store we were thrilled when they approached us.
“As part of the partnership we’re going to be giving their products to homeless people. When you are wearing new, smart clothes it naturally puts a spring in your step.
“They are also going to be opening up employment chances within their store for homeless people too so it will be a really good link up.”
“But I can guarantee absolutely no one said the same thing six years ago when we took it on as a bit of rubble-filled wasteland.
“One of the exciting things about the project is transforming a derelict area into something so beautiful.
“Because you want it to be well liked by the local community who sometimes have anxieties when they hear a homeless project is moving in as they think it will be some terrible homeless hostel.
“But when these people who surround this site look out their windows they will see a huge improvement to a piece of wasteland that has been a bit of an eyesore for years.”
*For more information visit: social-bite.co.uk