Social Bite

MANY HANDS MAKE LIGHT WORK 👋 A HUGE thank you to the volunteers from Andron who came to Social Bite offices to help us prepare these gifts. They sorted and packed hundreds of backpacks which will be given from our coffee shops to people attending our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day free food services. Each pack is choc-full of essentials that were chosen based on feedback from people who have lived experience of homelessness, as to what they thought would be most beneficial. Andron are also one of our amazing employer partners on our Jobs First programme. Jobs First is an initiative which aims to break down barriers to employment by working with employers to provide supported and sustainable roles for people who have experienced homelessness. Find out more 👉 https://lnkd.in/evrbuvki

ONE YEAR LATER AND STILL FULL OF SMILES 🌟 Patsy is our oldest supporter - 103 years young ✨ Each winter she knits lovely mittens and sells them to raise money to support our mission to end homelessness. Patsy also donates several of her handmade items for homeless and vulnerable people to receive at Christmas. Last week, founder Josh and his son Teddy visited Patsy to accept a cheque for Social Bite for an incredible £800, and to say a big THANK YOU for her support! The image on the left is of Patsy, Josh and Teddy last year, and on the right look how much Teddy has grown😄 If you'd like to make a donation to Festival of Kindness, you can do so on our website 👉 social-bite.co.uk

THANK YOU SO MUCH CARRONGRANGE HIGH SCHOOL 💚 Pupils collected gifts at their school, including toys, games, jackets and other items of warm clothing. We are so grateful for all of the schools who have chosen to support our mission to end homelessness this festive season. THANK YOU ✨ There’s still time to bring your own gifts to our Trees of Kindness. Find details including what items are on our wishlist here 👉 https://lnkd.in/epN-YWy3

THANK YOU TO PRIMARK PRINCES STREET 💚 🛍️ We are so grateful to the team at Primark Princes Street in Edinburgh who selected us as their local charity to support this Christmas. As well as donating themselves, the staff in store set up a stall at the shop entrance to let customers know about Festival of Kindness, marked items around the store which we needed from our gift list, and encouraged customers to buy items for us to distribute to people who are homeless and vulnerable this Christmas. Here are some members of their amazing team dropping off an absolute mountain of gifts at the Edinburgh tree. A HUGE thank you to the generous staff and customers at Primark Princes St for all their kindness ✨ Our trees will be accepting gifts until 7pm this Sunday. Find details for your nearest tree here 👉 https://lnkd.in/dFV3GMgQ

THE SKY'S THE LIMIT WITH HELP FROM SKY'S DELIVERY DRIVERS Thank you to our amazing Sky volunteer drivers for collecting SO MANY GIFTS from our Trees of Kindness! There's still time to bring your gifts down - visit your nearest tree before 7pm on Sunday (8pm in London): https://lnkd.in/epN-YWy3 Once you've dropped your gifts off, come rain or shine, the legends at Sky play a crucial role in getting your donated items to our main sorting and distribution centre, so we can ensure they're with the people who need them in time for Christmas 💝 Here’s Daniel from Sky to tell us more: “Sky’s Time to Care team loves Social Bite’s mission, and its focus on kindness at this time of year. We’re super proud to support Social Bite in any small way we can. “The local aspect of the campaign is fantastic, as it means Sky staff can get involved wherever they are in Scotland. “If I could encourage others to do one act of kindness this festive season, I’d say just do something, anything, for a charity in your community. You’ll feel great and will be making a difference to someone in need.” A huge thank you to Daniel and everyone at Sky for sharing kindness this festive season.

WHAT'S IN THE BAG? 🎒 We make up hundreds of gift packs to give out in our coffee shops and through local charity partners over the festive period ✨ All of the items included have been identified as essential by people experiencing homelessness. We’re hugely grateful to our corporate partners for providing items in bulk to help us give a gift of kindness to so many vulnerable people at Christmas 💚 Our UK Partnership Manager, Jenny, shows us what Festival of Kindness gift recipients will find inside on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

KINDNESS IS NEEDED TO TACKLE HOMELESSNESS THIS CHRISTMAS - AND ALL YEAR ROUND❣️ Josh has shared with the Big Issue why we believe kindness plays an essential part in ending homelessness 👉 https://lnkd.in/eC-ERShh "As homelessness surges across the UK, the festive season offers the perfect opportunity to address more than just the housing crisis – it’s a chance to redefine how we treat one another. "While these numbers paint a grim picture, the real crisis lies beyond the statistics. It’s easy to get caught up in the stats – and they certainly are shocking. But this isn’t just about a lack of social housing, the cost-of-living crisis or cuts to council funding. It’s about how we treat other human beings. "So, if you see someone affected by homelessness this winter – show them kindness. That may be a smile and a chat. It could be purchasing a Big Issue or making a £5 donation to Social Bite to buy a Christmas dinner. Or maybe it’s raising your voice to advocate for change. We each have the power to make a difference, so let’s ensure no one feels invisible or forgotten during the holidays."

WITH JUST EIGHT DAYS LEFT UNTIL CHRISTMAS DAY, OUR WAREHOUSE IS BUZZING WITH ACTIVITY 🎁 Amid all this hustle and bustle, we wanted to take a moment to say a big THANK YOU. We’ve received an amazing 8,000+ gifts and counting at our Trees of Kindness 🎄 📣 Our Scottish Tree of Kindness will be accepting donations until 7pm (8pm in London) on Sunday 22nd December. Sorting, storage and distribution mostly happens at Livi Self Storage - a MASSIVE thank you to Graham and the team for providing us with space this year!

30,000 ITISON VOUCHERS BOUGHT! - THANK YOU EVERYONE 🎉 A huge, HUGE thank you to every single one of you who has gotten us to this amazing milestone. We are so grateful for all of your support. Every voucher bought allows us to provide Christmas Dinner and gifts to individuals and families who are vulnerable or experiencing homelessness this Christmas. We truly have the most incredible supporters 💚 If you'd like to buy a homeless person Christmas Dinner for £5 visit 👉 itison.com/donate

ANOTHER TYPE OF TREE OF KINDNESS🌲 A free Christmas meal at Social Bite can be just the beginning. We look to form lasting relationships so that support can take other forms, like living at a Social Bite village. This month we hit an exciting milestone when we began manufacturing our new villages in South Lanarkshire and Dundee. Each building is made using homegrown timber, which has been generously donated by our friends at BSW Timber. BSW Group is the UK’s largest forestry and timber business, operating across tree nurseries, tree planting, forest management, harvesting, sawmilling, timber production, and pallets. It’s amazing to think that the timber which will house people affected by homelessness began growing up to 40 years ago. Clearly it’s never too early to plant seeds for change. Find out more about BSW’s sustainable timber: https://lnkd.in/ePzeKYKT