Rough sleeping

Analysis of Scottish Household Survey data suggests that around 5,300 adults sleep rough at least once a year in Scotland: this equates to an estimate of just over 700 people on a typical night. Rough sleeping is primarily concentrated in Scottish cities.

Steps to Hope SCIO regularly do coffee runs in the city centre of Edinburgh bringing hot drinks to those sleeping on our streets. A lot of the people we see suffer from addiction but have no resources or support to get the help they require. So as well as delivering hot drinks we also give them our information which could lead them to a clean and sober life as well as getting housed.

Steps to Hope is making an appeal to help raise funds so we can have a catering van on the streets of Edinburgh. This van will do routine stops offering hot food and drinks to those sleeping rough, as well as giving out vital support which could save lives.

We are a non-profit organisation who are not funded, so we rely solely on our fundraising events and donations from the public. Because of the generous support we have been shown from the public and fundraising, we have managed to launch two soup kitchens and rent a 4-bed room in a hostel. The 4-bed room is for our service users who we have been referred on to rehab. There is a waiting list of around three months for referrals into rehab, so we offer a safe place for our service users to stay whilst they await their placement.

By having this mobile catering van this will enable us to reach out to even more vulnerable and homeless people that have found themselves on the streets of Edinburgh. We want to help those who wish to help themselves get off the streets but most importantly give those who want to deal with the cause of why they have become homeless through addiction, abuse, and or mental health a chance. We will deliver hope and build a bridge into a new way of life. We do want to save lives.

PLEASE HELP US TO HELP THOSE TO HELP THEMSELVES