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The voice of Scotland’s vibrant voluntary sector

Published by Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations

TFN is published by the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, Mansfield Traquair Centre, 15 Mansfield Place, Edinburgh, EH3 6BB. The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) is a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation. Registration number SC003558.

Scotland’s first village for the homeless begins to take shape

This news post is over 6 years old
 

​Social enterprise Social Bite has revealed the prototype house to be used for a new village for homeless people in Edinburgh

A prototype eco house that will form part of a new village for homeless people is on show in St Andrews Square during the Edinburgh Festival.

The home was designed by architect Jonathan Avery from Tiny House Scotland, who build environmentally friendly micro-houses designed to be as sustainable as possible.

The Social Bite village will be located in Granton, Edinburgh, on a 1.5 acre site, and supported by funding raised from donations, including those generated by Holywood actor Leonardo Dicaprio's visit to Edinburgh last year.

People currently in temporary or emergency accommodation will be the first residents, and they are expected to move in by Christmas.

The concept for the village is to help rough sleepers off the streets and support them in a community which will give them new skills and new opportunities to improve their quality of life.

There will be twenty residents in the village, eating and working together as well as being able to benefit from cooking and budgeting lessons, volunteering and employment placements, and counselling sessions.

Each house will have two bedrooms, a shared bathroom with a shower, a lounge, and a kitchen-dining area.

All of the houses will be manufactured by Scottish company Carbon Dynamic, who specialise in designing well-insulated buildings using locally sourced and cost effective materials. They will also be fully transportable for Social Bite to reuse or relocate if needed.

Josh Littlejohn, who co-founded the social enterprise café Social Bite in 2012, was at the unveiling of the prototype house to answer questions about his ambitious project.

The house will be on display in St Andrew Square during the Edinburgh Festival.

 

Comments

0 0
Sandra
over 6 years ago
I think this is a wonderful idea.
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