Social Bite’s year in numbers

It might seem like there wasn’t much good to say about the mission to end homelessness in 2023.

The number of homeless households in Scotland increased by 10%. Edinburgh Council declared a housing emergency. Politicians said awful things about people who are homeless.

But when we looked back on the year, we saw a huge range of amazing things Social Bitesupporters helped to achieve, especially on an individual level. From free food to the gift of home, you came together to make both today better and create lasting change.

Here’s 12 of our favourite things that happened last year.

1. Just before Christmas the Festival of Kindness campaign finished. We’re so grateful to everyone who donated at our Trees of Kindness, through our website or itison.com to help distribute meals, gifts and essential items to people who need them most at Christmas. Almost 12,200 gifts were dropped off at the Trees of Kindness alone.
2. Back in April, we opened the doors to our new Glasgow coffee shop on Sauchiehall Street. To date, 3,175 customers have paid forward a coffee or meal for others. A month earlier, in March, our shop Social Bite on The Strand in London reached its first milestone: one year open!
3. By the end of 2023, the Social Bite Village in Edinburgh had supported more than 100 people who had experienced homelessness.
4. We celebrated two amazing years of our Jobs First programme, an initiative which aims to break down barriers to employment by working with employers to provide supported and sustainable job roles.

Here are some key numbers behind the programme:

5. We challenged our supporters to take on our first 100 Mile Challenge by completing 100 miles however suited them best over 40 days. More than 180 people signed up to take part in the event which culminated on World Homeless Day in October.
6. Our founder Josh Littlejohn published his first book, Pay It Forward, in August. The book tells the story of Josh’s journey setting up and growing Social Bite and the lessons he learned along the way.
7. In 2023, we partnered with 103 charities in local communities across the UK to help fund food and accommodation for homeless and vulnerable people. Beyond our own coffee shops we provided 2,000 meals a month on average through charity partners.
8. We announced plans to build two new Social Bite Villages in South Lanarkshire and Dundee. We’ll be expanding our focus from campaigning on homelessness to include support for people living with addiction issues with the first Recovery Village in Dundee. The Village will consist of 15 ‘Nest Houses’ like the one on display in Edinburgh’s St Andrew’s Square.
9. Edinburgh’s Hogmanay Torchlight Procession saw thousands of people shine a light on homelessness, with a portion of each ticket sold going towards our mission to end homelessness.
10. Last year, we gave away more than 140,000 free food items to people who needed it most.
11. 30 delegates from businesses, organisations and the third sector attended our second Impact Conference at St Martin in the Fields in London. They heard about Social Bite’s journey to scale up Jobs First, the principles behind the employment programme, and solutions to breaking the cycle of homelessness from the UK and around the world.
12. In May, more than 40 runners joined the movement to end homelessness by taking part in Edinburgh Marathon Festival and raising funds for Social Bite. Registrations are open for this year’s Marathon Festival and we’re looking for runners to lace up their running shoes for Team Social Bite! New Year’s resolution, anyone?

We can’t stress enough that all of this was possible because of your support. We wouldn’t be where we are now without you!

Whether you volunteered, cycled, sponsored, pledged jobs, gave a gift, took part in a virtual challenge, donated monthly – your kindness made 2023 a lot brighter for thousands of individuals and families across the country.

Of course, it’s wonderful to recognise everything that’s been achieved towards the mission of ending homelessness, but we must also acknowledge there is still so much to be done. So a heartfelt thank you from all of us at Social Bite and here’s to working together on this important cause throughout 2024.