Building a village for Scotland's homeless

Building a village and a future for Scotland’s homeless

Social Bite’s ambition to help Scottish society tackle one of its most pressing social challenges.

Introduction by Josh Littlejohn, Social Bite Co-Founder

Phase one – creating jobs for Scotland’s most marginalized people My friend Alice and I started Social Bite over four years ago after being inspired by a Nobel Peace Prize winner from Bangladesh called Professor Muhammad Yunus. I was running a fledgling events business when I read his book explaining his vision of a ‘social business’.

The concept basically means switching off the button in your brain concerned with maximizing personal financial gain and instead focusing your entire creative and entrepreneurial energies on helping solve social problems.

Inspired by the concept, we visited Professor Yunus in Bangladesh in October 2011 on a trip that would change our lives.

We spent a week visiting his social businesses and came back to Scotland with a simple desire – to create our own business that was 100% focused on creating social change. We opened a small sandwich shop on Rose Street in Edinburgh in August 2012 and called it Social Bite.

The original concept was pretty one-dimensional – make nice food and coffee, hopefully make a profit and then give it away to causes we were passionate about. But all that changed when we met a young man called Peter Hart who sold the Big Issue outside the shop.

A week after we opened, Pete plucked up the courage to ask for a job. If we had been viewing the world through the lens of maximising profits we would never have taken him on. We knew it would be a costly thing to do - he was homeless, had challenges with mental health, not to mention no work experience, no ID and no bank account.

But with our new social business glasses on, this seemed a good way to start making a social impact so we took Pete on and he excelled. He loved the routine, the responsibility, the reliable income, the friendships – all the good things that come with a job that we often take for granted.

As the shop got busier, we decided to try it again and asked Pete to suggest someone else from a homeless background that might want a job. He suggested his brother Joe and when Joe worked out, he suggested another Big Issue seller called John. John suggested Colin, then Sonny, then Iain and so it went on.

As the business grew, we made it our policy to recruit at least a quarter of staff from homeless backgrounds.

Phase one – creating jobs for Scotland’s most marginalized people It wasn’t long before we broadened our engagement with the homeless community and started a ‘pay it forward’ system where customers could buy a meal in advance for the homeless. We quickly started to welcome the homeless community into the shops for free food and a friendly ear.

Since then Social Bite has become a significantly bigger operation. We now have five shops in Scotland, two large staff canteens in Edinburgh, a central production kitchen in Livingston and one of the country’s leading independent corporate catering businesses. Our profile certainly increased a little when George Clooney popped in to visit us last year.

We’ve also just opened a new restaurant concept in Edinburgh’s west end called Home that will also provide opportunities for vulnerable people to progress.

We employ well over 100 people and have been able to maintain our policy of employing a quarter of our staff from homeless and severely excluded backgrounds. Incidentally, they are some of our best employees. We have managed to distribute almost 70,000 meals and hot drinks to the homeless since we started and last Christmas took 25,000 aid packs to refugees throughout Europe.

Here’s the interesting thing: this has all been achieved through a massive collaborative effort throughout Scottish society. We would not still be in existence if it wasn’t for the hundreds of companies that spend thousands on our catering every day and support our fundraising event The Scottish Business Awards, the customers who buy lunch from us every day, or the tens of thousands of generous people who buy a homeless person a Christmas dinner in December.

It has been a truly humbling experience to see people from all walks of life rally round this quite unusual small business and I will always be grateful to everyone who has helped us get to this stage.

Phase 2 – Working Backwards to tackle homelessness full circle So where does Social Bite go from here?

As we grow, so does our ability to get things done in the future. Things that seemed beyond our reach in the early stages now have less barriers, and I feel that now is the time to publicly state our vision and ambition over the next few years and ask once again for the support of the people of Scotland to help us get there.

Our mission remains the same – to help solve the problem of homelessness in the communities in which we work. I’m not for a minute saying that Social Bite alone will eradicate homelessness or anywhere close to that. But we can create a blueprint. Working alongside other homelessness charities, we can end the vicious cycle of homelessness for the individuals that we work with.

To end the cycle of homelessness I believe you need three things: 1. A home to live in.

2. Structured support to deal with underlying mental and emotional issues.

3. A job.

As Social Bite we started at the end point by giving homeless people jobs.

Our plan now is to work backwards.

Support We’re in the process of recruiting five individuals whose remit will be to provide extensive support to the homeless people we engage with including counselling, money and benefits management, health and fitness plus and academic support.

We will work closely with local homelessness charities to deliver this support. This intensive support will not only be on offer to our staff but also the homeless people that use our shops for free food to get them on a ladder out of that desperate situation.

Phase 2 – Working Backwards to tackle homelessness full circle The Social Bite Village The bit I am most excited about for 2017 is the bit we need the most help with. We approached Edinburgh City Council and asked them for a piece of land where we can build accommodation for up to 20 people from a homeless backgrounds along with space for a vegetable garden, chicken coup and furniture workshop. I’m delighted to say that we are in the final stages of agreeing a suitable piece of land with Edinburgh Council.

The land we are looking to launch the project on is located on the seafront in Granton and we will look to take it on for as long it remains undeveloped by Edinburgh Council.

Our intention is to create an innovative, low cost, safe living environment for up to 20 people for around 12 months. During this time we can ensure they receive the aforementioned extensive support in a controlled environment where residents learn new skills and get their life back on track, working in an onsite vegetable garden, chicken coup and furniture workshop as well as given work placements in our shops and restaurant.

After 12 months we will help transition the residents into permanent accommodation and provide employment in Social Bite’s broader business and our partners, supporting their journey back into society where they belong. After 12 months another 20 resident’s will be welcomed into the village.

The residents will be people who are currently living in mostly unsupported temporary accommodation, shelters, and B&Bs. From our experience, these people have very little hope or social intervention to help them break out of the cycle of homelessness and it costs councils a significant amount of money just to maintain the status quo.

Launching this project will require about £500,000 of initial funding so we are about to embark on another fundraising drive this Christmas and hope once again that Scotland shows its compassion and gets behind us.

Creating a Blueprint By doing this, the ambition is to create a full circle solution to the issue of homelessness from housing to support to employment. In doing so we hope to alter the course of some of Scotland’s most vulnerable people for the better - swapping a destiny of poverty and exclusion for one of compassionate support and inclusion. This in turn will provide a blueprint for addressing homelessness that if successful can be replicated either by other private individuals, other charities or governments in Scotland or further afield.

We also hope to demonstrate through our own journey, that when private citizens set out on a path and focus their energies on solving a problem they can make a difference.

We don’t need to rely on government intervention or public money to get things done.

We just need to focus our energies on our biggest social challenges, collaborate with one another and give the most vulnerable people in our society a chance.

We met Joe when he was homeless and selling the Big Issue outside our shop on Rose St in 2012.

He has now been employed full time for 4 years and is being trained in our restaurant.

We met Matteo in 2014, long term unemployed and suffers from a severe disability of being Deaf and mute.

He has maintained a job with Social Bite for over 2 years and is now a trainee at our restaurant.

The Social Bite Village Full Project details We are planning to fundraise through our Scottish Business Awards event on November 17th with Leonardo Di Caprio, as well as various other fund raising initiatives, to build a village for the homeless in Edinburgh. We plan to raise a minimum of £500,000 initially to support the launch of this project.

With these funds, we will build accommodation for 20 individuals - made from innovative, low cost and movable building materials. The plan is for the village to be located on two plots of land in Granton which will be donated to us by Edinburgh council.

The residents will be people who are currently living in temporary accommodation, particularly those living in homelessness Bed and Breakfasts (B & B’s). From our experience and the experience of our charity partners, these people currently have very little social intervention or support and often stay in the temporary accommodation for long periods of time, often over 12 months. During this time in temporary accommodation, they are effectively de-skilled, and leave temporary accommodation with little ability to cook for themselves, budget finances, maintain a household or have any realistic employment opportunities. As such the cycle of homelessness is perpetuated.

The worst thing about this scenario is that it costs Edinburgh council a significant amount of money to achieve these very poor social outcomes. Edinburgh Council Homelessness and Housing Support Services informed us that it currently costs an average of £47 per night to put someone up in a homelessness B&B. This therefore costs £17,155 per year per person, and the cost of housing 20 people per annum in this temporary accommodation is £343,100.

The council can claim around £150,000 back from the treasury (Department of Work and Pensions) in housing benefit.

Our plan is to create a village for up to 20 individuals, housing them for around 12 months.

During this 12 months, we would provide extensive support in the following areas: • Cooking lessons • Budgeting • Counselling • Volunteering opportunities and placements • Employment opportunities and placements • Sport and meditation facilities • Support in applying for permanent accommodation • Any other support requirements needed • W e will also create a vegetable garden, chicken coup and furniture workshop on the land, so that the residents can pro-actively work on a project and the food produce will be used/ sold to Social Bite’s broader infrastructure.

The Social Bite Village We would house the individuals without charging Edinburgh council anything, only claiming back the housing benefit from DWP - thereby saving the Edinburgh council taxpayer around ÂŁ250,000 every year, whilst simultaneously creating much improved social outcomes.

All housing benefit income we received from the residents will be re-invested in the above support structure to try and break the cycle of homelessness and prepare the individuals for their future to be able to live independently and productively - with employment being one of the central end goals.

After roughly 12 months the residents will be supported into permanent accommodation and another 20 individuals will be housed and supported on a annual basis.

Individual Selection The living situation of the individual is described above but an important point to note is that we do not intend to take on anyone in the midst of a serious addiction problem. Our view is that this would cause too much risk to the project and other charities currently exist to support in this instance before these individuals are ready to come to us for accommodation and support.

The Land The areas of land that we are in the final stages of agreeing with Edinburgh Council are in the Granton area of the city and are highlighted in the below image. The land by the waterfront would be the location for the accomodation and the adjacent land would be for the vegetable garden, support office, chicken coup and furniture workshop.

We met Joe, John, Sonny and Colin in 2012 when they were homeless. In November 2015 they were all full time employees & cooked lunch for one of the biggest filmstars on the planet, George Clooney.

Our Build Partners Eco Boxes and Tiny House Scotland EcoBoxes and Tiny House Scotland will work closely with Social Bite, and site stakeholders and all other charitable partners to create the best possible living environment. EcoBoxes and Tiny House Scotland will also identify potential sources of material resources, such as tools and equipment from community or voluntary organisations or as corporate social responsibility contributions in the construction of the suggested space.

The primary purpose as outlined in the Social Bite briefings is to provide a temporary source of accommodation for the homeless community, a support office with communal kitchen space and social space, and a furniture workshop with vegetable garden and chicken coup on the site identified as “Walled Garden”. EcoBoxes and Tiny House Scotland propose a value-for-money, multi-purpose, easily maintained and ecologically friendly space solution.

The total anticipated budget per two-person unit is predicted to be £30845 (+/- 5%).

It is also assumed that Social Bite, will bear the additional cost of structural preparation of the selected ground site, connection of services and any legal or administrative warrants or permissions before EcoBoxes moves onto site.

Structure Option 01

Structure Option 02

Based on the outline verbal briefings EcoBoxes are suggesting the repurposing and fitting out of former seagoing shipping containers in a configuration that is sensitive to the overall site.

Tiny House Scotland has now finished the prototype Nesthouse - a culmination of two years research and development by designer and craftsman Jonathan Avery to produce... a highly insulated modular moveable small eco-house

Seagoing shipping containers are strong, temporary and reconfigurable solutions to many space problems. Our proposal suggests a configuration of two containers (one 40’ and one 20’) with external access, an ecologically friendly roof space and window panels. The internal configuration is suggested based on initial discussions and the wish of Social Bite to house 2 persons per unit but can be adapted to more closely fit the evolving needs of Social Bite which may be dictated by planning or site use permissions. The costs given reflect the diagrams and architectural layouts and will vary dependent of final configuration and finish.

This energy efficient, eco-friendly, sustainable Small House can be on-grid, off-grid or hybrid powered.

It is a very comfortable 3.4m wide and is available in three basic lengths - Small, Medium and Large which are - 4.0m, 5.2m and 6.4m respectively, giving internal floor areas from around 10 to 30 square meters depending on the size chosen and the optional external modules.

The Nesthouse has primarily been designed for full time micro-living or homesteading. They are ideal for singles or couples who want to live lightly and sustainably on their land or as an affordable starter home solution in urban or rural areas. The light-filled cosy interior makes it a super-comfortable cabin or retreat or can provide extra living space. They are built off site and delivered as a fully finished building - all ready to furnish and move into!

Our Build Partners

1. The Design Solution

Figure 1 These floor-plan drawings provide a sense of the co-designed space solution that EcoBoxes believes meets the primary and other multipurpose requirements of Social Bite’s initial brief. This space includes all elements that we understand to be necessary in order to fulfil the brief.

• 2 Single Bedrooms • Shared WC with Shower • Lounge area • Small food preparation area

Our Build Partners Based on the aforementioned 40ftx20ft container configuration an example of a potential site configuration can be seen below. This configuration assumes the permission to stack housing units two-high, as well as the office/communal kitchen space being a two-level structure.

Figure 2 Example of possible site configuration The housing unit design solution provides ample space at an internal 43m2 overall floor space.

The core design of one 40ft and one 20ft sea container configuration has sufficient lighting to comply with planning regulations. The shower and toilet facilities, basic sleeping spaces and small lounge area meet the core client brief. The build is secure, weather proof, and ecologically friendly. The build process has been designed to be easily replicable and learnable, thus facilitating transferability of participants’ skills in future projects. The space is also capable of further extension both laterally and in height, however this is not recommended due to site space restrictions.

Correctly scaled examples of floor plans and site configuration can be found in the attached PDFs.

Image 3

Images of Tiny House Scotland Prototype House

2. Outline Cost & Fees Per Housing Unit The projected preliminary cost for the initial design will be £30845 (+/- 5%) this cost excludes site preparation, utilities connection, planning permissions, and building warrants.

The following is a breakdown of outline costs based on the limited information provided in the brief. This outline cost is based on the Two-Person Housing Unit consisting of 1x40ft and 1x20ft container as per the original request from Social Bite.

SocialBite homeless accommodation project - Proposed Granton site. August 2016 COST BREAKDOWN A

Fixed (preparatory container works and siting) Preliminary works Transportation and locating Primary user access and decking Electrical works and compliance Windows External preliminary treatment Plumbing, heating, water & waste, sanitary ware (pre accommodation unit siting) Section total

B

Variable costs (internals) Internal walls & cladding Flooring internal Fixtures & fittings Toilets and sanitary Kitchen and social area (Container modifications) Section total

C

D

1500 450 850 2250 2800 900 3125 £11875

1410 1430 1900 750 £5490

Direct labour costs Site management Plumbing trades Electrical trades Joinery trades Additional Labour (Container modifications) Section total

£10430

Professional fees & admin Architectural & design Legal & accounting Project management Administration Section total

1200 750 750 350 £3050

Total proposal cost Contingencies

1250 700 550 1450 6480

-5%

£30845 29300

+5%

32400

(See annotations for notes below) Notes (1) This cost breakdown section does not include land and subsoil preparation including acquiring all necessary legal planning consents and warrants.

(2) Variable costs depend entirely on final client brief specifications and material qualities & finishes (3) Standard allowance for contingencies and variations

Configuration 1 Two examples of possible site configurations are displayed here. Configuration 1 contains 18 units with two-level stacking, Configuration 2 contains 20 units with two-level stacking.

Configuration 2 SocialBite also requested imagery of the “Walled Garden� site containing the proposed furniture workshop, chicken coup and vegetable garden. A basic diagram can be found in Figure 4 below.

Figure 4 This configuration is once again an initial design and can be altered once feedback and further input has been received.

Colin in 2006

Colin is now one of social bite’s best employees having worked full time for over 4 years.

He is now a trainee at our new restaurant.

1 in 4 of Social Bite’s team are from backgrounds of homelessness. Profits from this shop support training and support programs for these individuals.

7. Further Reading/Supplementary Material 1) mYpads Walthamstow. Low cost 20ft container housing example down south. The proposed design would be 40ft containers so much larger, however should 20ft be considered more applicable then EcoBoxes can accommodate. Containers “aren’t cheap” in this video as they are prefabricated in, and then brought over from, China therefore there is a considerable markup as well as delivery cost due to the purely for profit nature of the item. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-englandlondon-22106377http://www.guardianseries. co.uk/news/13409414._Innovative__shipping_ container_homes_on_offer_to_young_renters/

2) Article about Keetwonen Student accommodation in Amsterdam: https://www.pdx.edu/sites/www.pdx.edu.realestate/files/2Q10-8-Keetwonen-4-30-10.pdf

A Norwegian news piece on the site: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nKUDVOV4yg

This configuration uses the single unit design mentioned as an alternative design and demonstrates how they can be stacked. The architect who has created the inital imagery previously has visited this site and been inside the accommodation.

7. Further Reading/Supplementary Material 3) Grand Designs Episode demonstrating a high-end container conversion. Provides an example of a double wide container configuration. This has disadvantages here due to the unique configuration and the requirement for structural reenforcement due to the angle at which they are stacked.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSx87G6NM6g

4) Cove Park, artists retreat Argyll & Bute. An example of previous container conversions in Scotland.

http://www.containercity.com/projects/cove-park

7. Further Reading/Supplementary Material 5) Example of a single 40ft container conversion in Australia.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srWhBxJIgFM

6) VERY IMPORTANT Guardian article encompassing the benefits of building with, and any potential issues of stacking shipping containers used for temporary/low-cost housing.

Includes links to some of the examples mentioned above with links to other examples not mentioned here. https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/oct/09/living-steel-boxshipping-containers-future-housing

7) Tiny Houses Scotland

https://tinyhousescotland.co.uk/

Build Partners Mactaggart and Mickel Leading house builders Macktaggert and Mickel have agreed to come on board on a pro-bono basis to provide expertise on all of the technical aspects of the project.

This will be led by chairman Bruce Mickel.

Mactaggart and Mickel will be providing: • Architects • Planning Application Consultants • Project Management • Expertise on connections to utilities and waste

Hamish Cullens Hamish Cullens, a trained civil and structual engineer, will be providing all engineering consultancy free of charge.

Our Charity Partners When the village is up and running we intend to partner with several other leading homelessness charities to ensure that the level of support for the individuals living on site is to the highest standard. These partners are:

Shelter Scotland

Streetwork

Shelter Scotland helps over half a million people a year struggling with bad housing or homelessness – and we campaign to prevent it in the first place.

Last year we reached over 3,900 people.

We plan to partner with Shelter at the end stages of our resident’s tenancy and plan to outsource to Shelter key support workers the task of supporting the individuals find and apply for permanent housing. This would include aftercare and support with any changes in benefits.

Edinburgh Cyrenians For nearly 50 years, Cyrenians has served those on the edge, working with the homeless and vulnerable to transform their lives by beginning with their story, helping them believe that they can change their lives, and walking with them as they lead their own transformation.

We will partner with the Cyrenians on the operation of the vegetable garden, chicken coup and furniture workshop as well on other support services for the residents.

We go out, we seek, we find and connect with people who are in such trouble that they find themselves on the street. Regardless of whatever brought this about, we work to enable them to bring safety and stability to their lives. We aim to get it right first time, to bring an end to the recurring problems that living without a home can bring. But homelessness is often a symptom of other underlying issues. A bed for the night is just the starting place. Working in a partnership based on respect and trust, we help people to find their own solution in ‘your terms, your pace, your place’.

We plan to partner with streetwork on the various areas of support on offer, including counselling, addiction therapy and budgeting.

Social Bite Charity Social Bite will deploy our own support workers on site full time to offer support to the residents and be a constant point of contact. If required we could also invest in on site security. Social Bite will also connect the residents with training and employment opportunities.

Contact For further information and to support please contact Social Bite co-founder Josh Littlejohn on:

T: 0131 220 8206 E: j.littlejohn@capital-events.co.uk

www.social-bite.co.uk