Social Bite cofee shops feed thousands amid housing crisis

The Herald Scotland

7 days ago

Yet, the queue belies a more concerning truth, that of a growing economic crisis which has left thousands of Glaswegians unable to pay rent or buy groceries.
Dozens line up each morning outside the cafe, eager for a hot roll and sausage, a coffee or tea, and a warm smile. A second free meal service is held in the afternoon, this routinely attracting more than one hundred people every day.
Netlix star Phil Rosenthal visited Social Bite in Edinburgh last year. (Image: Social Bite) Similar scenes can be observed at Social Bite's cafes in Aberdeen and Edinburgh.
Social Bite's Managing Director, Mel Swan explains: 'We do a breakfast service and an afternoon service in Glasgow. Everyone is welcome, it is a very inclusive and welcoming environment.
'In the afternoon we have 'Scran', that will be the same food and drinks we serve in the cafe. Folks can get tea or coffee, or a bottle of water, and lunch items like jacket potatoes and sandwiches, as well as fruit and snacks. We have volunteers who help pack everything up.'
Founded in Edinburgh by Josh Littlejohn in August 2012, Social Bite began life as a typical coffee shop. That is, until a homeless man named Peter approached Littlejohn for a job, kicking off a decade plus of battling the housing crisis.
Littlejohn, who has received an MBE for his work in the sector, previously told The Herald about how he came up with the idea for the cafe, after reading a book by Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus.
'I had just left university and at that time I had never heard of the term social enterprise,' he said. 'There was no cultural reference point for trying to create a business with a social mission, the only purpose of a business was to create profit.
"Reading that book lit a fire within me when I learned that idea and felt a real sense of alignment."
Today, Swan, who joined Social Bite several years ago, says that more people are using the charity's services than ever before.
'It's been very eye-opening," she notes. 'Some of the services are at their highest usage right now. That's for a variety of reasons. For example, in Glasgow, some of the other free food charitable services have had to close down, so we've seen a lot more people using our service. Our Rose Street store in Edinburgh is quite hit and miss at the moment since the festival is going on.
'Yesterday in Rose Street, 75 people came in for breakfast, and over 100 were served in the afternoon. In Glasgow yesterday, we had a social supper - which is a hot, family style meal, and served 120 people.
Social Bite was founded by Josh Littlejohn. Pictured with John Watson. (L). (Image: John Watson) Swan added: 'Everyday you walk past our shops, especially in the afternoon, and you will see a queue before we do the free food service. Those queues have gotten bigger, we have different sorts of people joining.
'We serve hundreds of people a week, and it is a vital service for them. We pride ourselves on making it as inclusive as possible. We're all people and are all trying our best, so we want everyone to feel welcomed, regardless of whether they are paying or not.'
But what do the cafe's customers think about the shop's charitable aims?
Swan says that many are more than happy to 'pay it forward', purchasing drinks or snacks for cafe workers to give out during the day.
She adds: 'We have brilliant coffee. That's a non-negotiable as far as I'm concerned. What makes us unique is the 'pay it forward' concept. Customers can come in and choose to buy a drink or a meal for someone who might be homeless or in a situation where they can't afford to buy their own food, and we will facilitate that for them.
'That happens every single day in all of our coffee shops. People come in; young, old, working, shopping, and every day I'm blown away by the amount of people who want to help. It's always really special around the winter months, when it's darker and colder, and we see someone banging on the door to come in and pay it forward.
'Our customers really like to see it in action. They like to know that is where their donations are going and that's brilliant. There are some people who don't want to see them, and that's something that as a society we're always trying to educate on, but that's the world we live in.'
Christmas is a special time for the charity. (Image: Herald Picture Agency) The three shops come alive at the holiday season, Swan says with a smile on her face.
'At Christmas, we do something a bit different, it is a key period for us. Not only because of the need, but around our annual campaign. We still do free meal services Monday to Friday, but we also open our doors on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and we do a sit down Christmas dinner.'
Guests are served two courses, including turkey with all the trimmings and sticky toffee pudding, as well as special gifts and Christmas crackers.
'Each coffee shop might serve 400 or 500 people each year. We also support a lot of other charities. There's only so much we can do within the four walls of our coffee shop, but we do send meals to other charities during the holiday season.'
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As our conversation comes to a close, Swan reflects on the ethos behind Social Bite.
'Anyone can do food,' she says. 'You saw that in times of crisis, like Covid, lots of people came together because that's what we do, we want to feed people.
'We know how many meals we give out, we know how many coffees we give out, we've got those numbers, but actually that impact we have on people who use our services is the part that restores faith in why we're here.'