George Clooney boosts social capital on Edinburgh visit

Selfie: George Clooney posing with Social Bite staff. Picture: Getty

He is one of Hollywood’s most famous film stars, known for his role in the Oceans’ trilogy and for enjoying a Nespresso coffee from time to time.

But yesterday George Clooney tucked into a sandwich from an Edinburgh charity cafe and a five-course lunch at Tigerlily on a visit to the Scottish capital.

Hundreds of fans gathered outside Social Bite in Rose Street to catch a glimpse of the actor. After arriving in a red Jaguar, Clooney wasted no time greeting fans and many were lucky enough to get a selfie with the Hollywood A-lister.

George Clooney leaves Tiger Lily restaurant in Edinburgh. Picture: Getty

Kirsten Pringle, 22, from Portobello, was with her mother Sandi, and she was ecstatic to have snatched a selfie with the heart-throb. She said: “We’ve been waiting since 7:30am this morning to get a selfie with him and I’m just so happy. We got his attention and he asked me how long we were waiting. He said we must be freezing and then he held my hand.

“My mum will say she’s a bigger fan, but I love him too.”

Clooney, 54, was greeted by Josh Littlejohn, 29, co-founder of Social Bite, who invited him to Edinburgh to meet staff at his cafe, which caters for homeless people.

Josh said: “We never expected this when we were getting up at five in the morning to make sandwiches when we first started out.

“George is an incredible guy, someone who has achieved real global fame but thinks nothing of attending a sandwich shop to chat to the workers and discuss the issue of homelessness.”

After leaving a donation of $1,000 (£650), Clooney visited the People’s Postcode Lottery offices in George Street to pick up a cheque for £175,000 for his own charity, Not on Our Watch.

Afterwards, he was chauffeured to Tigerlily for a Scottish-themed five-course lunch including salt-aged Inverurie beef carpaccio, pan-fried Scrabster cod and Scottish cheeses.

He was joined by 25 guests, including Heather McGowan, 32, a wedding planner from Glasgow, who won a charity competition to dine with him. She said: “Now that it’s over, I can try to absorb all the little bits of the day. Getting a kiss on the cheek from him was absolutely brilliant – he was the most charming man.”

Cameron Ross, 24, from Edinburgh, was going to celebrate his mother Lynda’s birthday when he found out the actor was just yards away. He waited for Clooney to emerge from the lottery offices and was picked out by the star, who signed his card wishing his mother a happy birthday.

To finish off his visit, Clooney presented the Scottish Business Awards at the Edinburgh Conference Centre last night, alongside First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, comic Rob Brydon and cyclist Sir Chris Hoy.

During a Q&A session, he told Judy Murray his wife Amal had been at the Wimbledon final in 2013 and had “one of the best days of her life” watching Andy Murray win.