SOCIAL Bite has opened its first coffee shop outside of Scotland amid fears the cost-of-living crisis will see “a further rise in homelessness” the UK.
The enterprise, which aims to eradicate rough sleeping, opened its newest location in the “epicentre of homelessness in the UK” opposite London’s Charring Cross Station.
The London-based cafe welcomed its first customers on Tuesday, March 15 – including well-known faces such as Scots actor Martin Compton and broadcaster Kate Garraway.
Co-founder of the initiative Josh Littlejohn said: “This rising cost of living is going to affect the most vulnerable people in society the most.
“I am concerned that we will see a further rise in homelessness unless the Government is able to intervene for those who are on the bread line already and ensure these rising costs don’t tip them over the edge.”
He also called the London venue by the Strand a “really fitting location for us to try and make a difference”.
“There are more homeless people within the square mile around the Strand than there is at any other location in the whole of the UK,” Mr Littlejohn said.
He hopes visits from celebrities such as Line of Duty actor Martin Compston will "help shine a light on the important issues" at the core of the launch.
Previous visits from Hollywood celebrity George Clooney in 2015 was a "game-changing moment for the charity" which allowed them to launch more ambitious fundraising projects, the co-founder added.
The London-based café, which joins five existing Scottish locations, will operate on a Pay-It-Forward system that will allow customers to pay for a hot drink or meal that a homeless person can redeem later.
With the business also aiming to ensure one in four of their staff come from a background of homelessness, it is hoped the new English location will create ten jobs for the homeless over the next year.
Social Bite is working with mainstream employers to help secure those ten employment opportunities for people with a history of sleeping rough.
He said on the day of the opening: “It’s really exciting that the first person from a homeless background started work today I was just speaking to him today and he is really thrilled to have that chance.”
The social enterprise is also planning to open another café in Glasgow in the next few months, with aims to secure a Sauchiehall Street premise.
Mr Littlejohn added that they are still finalising the lease on the city’s high street but was hopeful to get sixth Scottish Social Bite opened before the summer.
He said: “That will be a really exciting shop. It is a bit bigger than our usual ones, hopefully it will be a really kind of fantastic coffee shop environment for customers to come and it will make a difference to the community.”
Plans for the London opening date back to the World’s Big Sleep Out campaign in 2019 that saw thousands of people camp out across the globe, including in Trafalgar Square.
“Ever since then we have been thinking it would be fantastic if we could open a café in London that replicates some of the work we’ve been doing in Scotland,” the social enterprise's co-founder explained.
While the efforts were delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic, he said the team was “really excited” to finally open an English location.
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He also warned that coronavirus has also had an impact on homelessness numbers.
“Coming out of the pandemic, obviously a lot of people suffered severe financial consequences during the pandemic, so we were already seeing that rise in homeless people and families being unable to make ends meet.”
However, the pandemic also saw a “big rise in generosity, altruism and community spirit”, Mr Littlejohn added.
“During the pandemic we came up with this big initiative to provide food packs out to vulnerable people. We were unsure how successful that would be in terms of fundraising, because obviously people were feeling the consequences.
“We certainly felt that people were more generous over the course of the pandemic than we have ever experienced before.
“There was an undoubted sense of community.”
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