Social bite homeless village '˜will not be a ghetto'

The co-founder of SocialBite, Josh Littlejohn, has said that Scotland's first homeless village will not become a ghetto.

As part of the development, 10 two-bedroom homes in Granton is expected to welcome its first tenants later this year.

In an interview with The Herald, the creator of the village even admitted that the radical plan ‘may not work’

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Josh Littlejohn spoke about the future of the homeless villageJosh Littlejohn spoke about the future of the homeless village
Josh Littlejohn spoke about the future of the homeless village

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Speaking on the aims of the village, Mr Littlejohn said homeless Scots should be given a permanent residence rather than live in “degrading and isolating” hostels that encourage addicitons and mental health problems.

He said: “If people going into hostels haven’t got an addiction they develop one, if they have an addiction or a mental health problem already, it gets worse,

Sleep in the Park raised funds for the homeless villageSleep in the Park raised funds for the homeless village
Sleep in the Park raised funds for the homeless village

“At present, people deteriorate, but the cost to the police, health and jail budgets as well as the cost to the individuals themselves is written off.

“We should give them the keys to a house and the right support. The difficult thing is to dual-fund two systems until it becomes mainstream.”

“The findings echoed the voices of almost everyone I ever speak to. The academics said: ‘don’t ask us to do more research - it works’.”

The homeless village follows on from the success of Sleep in the Park with Littlejohn also urging the Scottish Government to work with charities for a “wholesale transformation” of services.