Charity behind Rutherglen homeless village plans launches Christmas gift campaign

A leading homelessness charity that is constructing a village in Rutherglen has launched its annual Christmas campaign. Social Bite’s Festival of Kindness campaign spans across five major UK cities, with four of them located in Scotland, including Glasgow. The initiative aims to gather over 300,000 gifts, essential items, and Christmas meals for individuals and families in need during the festive season. Given the increasing poverty and national housing crisis affecting more people around the country, the campaign holds even greater significance this year.

For the fourth consecutive year, Social Bite Trees of Kindness are set up in London, Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, and the Vinicombe Street area in Glasgow as designated drop-off points for donations. The charity also encourages online donations to reach a wider audience and extend support to those affected by homelessness and poverty. Collaborating with the individuals they aid, Social Bite has compiled a wish list that includes toys, warm clothes, toiletries, SIM cards, earphones, boots, and trainers, to meet both wants and needs during this time of year.

Alongside physical donations, monetary contributions collected at the trees and online will go towards providing a Christmas meal complete with all the trimmings to those in need. Over the past four years, the generosity of residents in the four Scottish cities and beyond has enabled the charity to distribute over a million gifts, essential items, and hot meals to vulnerable children and adults during the winter months. The UK currently faces the highest rate of homelessness among developed nations, underscoring the crucial role that campaigns like this play in spreading joy to households experiencing homelessness this festive season.

Social Bite previously launched a homeless village providing temporary supported accommodation in Edinburgh in 2018. Their most recent project in Rutherglen, approved by South Lanarkshire Council, will see the development of 16 prefabricated pods and a community hub on the site of a former sawmill on Harriet Street. Founder of Social Bite, Josh Littlejohn MBE, highlighted the urgent need to address homelessness and food poverty, emphasizing the importance of this campaign in bringing hope and joy to those without toys, Christmas meals, or a warm place to stay.

As the charity urges more people than ever to support their cause by contributing either at the Trees of Kindness or online, they express gratitude to everyone who has rallied behind them in the past. By calling for collective action to uplift those in need, Social Bite appeals to individuals, families, and colleagues to join in spreading goodwill and making a difference this Christmas season.