Cyrenians

Mike Wright Cyrenians’ exclusive monthly column for Scottish Housing News continues with outreach service manager, Mike Wright, outlining the importance of building relationships when working to reduce homelessness.

Homelessness charity Cyrenians is celebrating three years of its community garden Green Learning Project run. Situated at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital and Midlothian Community Hospital, the gardens provide opportunities for people to get outside and grow food, bringing people together and reducing s

Recommendations to house a new Inclusive Homelessness Service on the site of the former Panmure St Ann’s school have been approved by the Edinburgh Integration Joint Board (EIJB). The new operational base will allow the co-location of NHS Lothian, City of Edinburgh Council and third sector agencie

Ewan Aitken In the first of a new monthly column exclusively for Scottish Housing News, Cyrenians CEO Ewan Aitken looks back over the charity’s 50 years in operation and charts its involvement in the Social Bite Village.

Homelessness prevention charity Cyrenians is seeking £500,000 from businesses to support its work in Edinburgh as it marks its 50th anniversary year of helping rough sleepers. The campaign is being supported by Essential Edinburgh, the Business Improvement District (BID) for Edinburgh City Centre,

Social enterprise Social Bite has officially launched its village in Edinburgh which aims to tackle homelessness by providing a safe living environment for around 20 people per year. Developed on vacant land in Granton, the Social Bite Village is made up of 11 two-bedroom nest houses intended to pro

Homelessness charity Cyrenians welcomed Queen Margaret University Chancellor and catering legend Prue Leith to Leith yesterday to open its brand new Cook School and teaching kitchen. The Cyrenians Food Education programme started 17 years ago with an old second-hand cooker, worth just £50, and is n

Kathy Hoyle Homelessness and inclusion charity Cyrenians has appointed a manager for the Social Bite Village set to provide a home for up to 20 people affected by homelessness.

Homelessness and inclusion charity Cyrenians is hosting various activities at HMP Addiewell to celebrate Book Week Scotland and Prisoners’ Week. The Family Visitors Centre at HMP Addiewell is run by the charity to support families affected by imprisonment. The facility provides families visiting l

Ligia Teixeira In a guest blog for homelessness charity Cyrenians, Dr Ligia Teixeira outlines why Crisis believes that improving outcomes at scale requires a new approach.

To mark Alcohol Awareness Week (November 13-19), Edinburgh homelessness and inclusion charity Cyrenians highlights its work to alleviate the detrimental footprint that the misuse of alcohol leaves across communities. It has been well documented by health and social care professionals, as well as deb

In an open letter in The Herald, written to coincide with Mediation Awareness Week, a number of Scottish charities have stressed the importance of early intervention in reducing the number of people presenting as homeless and have urged the Scottish Government to take note. There are two sides to ev

A new service has been launched that seeks to address a visible problem with rough sleeping in Edinburgh. The Homeless Navigator Project is a new Comic Relief and Essential Edinburgh funded service within Cyrenians that aims to offer an alternative opportunity for people who are experiencing homeles

A group of 24 Scottish charities have come together to urge the UK government to stop the roll-out of the Universal Credit system in Scotland. A major change the benefits system, Universal Credit replaces six existing benefits with one, and is designed to make the benefits process easier. The govern

Cyrenians chief executive Ewan Aitken reflects on new homelessness research from Crisis. The recent report from the excellent Heriot Watt University commissioned by Crisis as part of their 50th year anniversary predicting a 50% plus rise in homelessness is shocking, but it comes as no surprise for m