Josh Littlejohn and Alice Thompson – Helping end homelessness



August 31, 2017

Social Bite is helping support homeless people in Scotland with food, jobs, stability and respect, all led by a commitment to designing a fundamentally different way of running a business.

Co-founders Josh Littlejohn and Alice Thompson were inspired by Professor Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel Peace Prize-winning economist who champions ‘social businesses’, companies founded to solve problems rather than generate profits.

Inspired by his writing, Josh and Alice flew to Bangladesh in 2011 to meet him, and to visit social businesses founded by Professor Yunus which help support malnourished children, blind people living in poverty and women facing financial exclusion.

“Alice and I decided we wanted to set up our own social enterprise business with the aim of not making money, but solving major social challenges,” Josh says.

“Social Bite is a social enterprise chain of sandwich shops with donates all profits to good causes,” he adds. “A quarter of our workforce is made up of people from homeless backgrounds, and our ‘pay it forward’ scheme ensures we are able to provide homeless people with nutritious hot food and drinks on a daily basis.”

The organisation has helped change the lives of many people, including Joe, who was homeless in Edinburgh. A job washing dishes at Social Bite in Edinburgh led to a trainee chef role in the company’s Livingston kitchens, and to being able to share his own flat with his brother.

“We exist as a social business to help solve the social problem of homelessness,” Josh says. “Our business model is unique and aimed at providing a long-term solution to the problem of homelessness, not just a quick fix.”

This commitment has led to the formation of the Social Bite Academy to offer people essential skills for steady employment, and the development of the Social Bite Village.

The village “aims to provide a blueprint for a community-focused accommodation solution, with a strong focus on support, links to employment and breaking the cycle of homelessness,” with up to 20 people being able to live for up to a year, gaining supervised accommodation and training “to help get their lives back on track”.

“Work is currently underway with the first homes being manufactured off-site, ready to launch later in the year. We plan on welcoming our first residents to the Social Bite Village before Christmas this year,” Josh adds.


Image courtesy of Jonathan Avery

The Social Bite Village is working with architect Jonathan Avery of Tiny House Scotland, while the homes are being manufactured by Carbon Dynamic. The homes are incredibly well insulated, reducing costs, and are built from sustainable materials.

Global superstars like George Clooney and Leonardo DiCaprio have visited Social Bite to learn about the project and meet its staff, but for Josh “the highlight is seeing those who are homeless get their lives back on track”.

“Design is at the heart of everything we do, and enables us to evolve and progress every day. It is how we solve problems and shape the world we live in,” Josh says, adding that he thinks V&A Dundee will be “an exceptional international centre of design, showcasing some of the finest talent from Scotland and around the world”.

The achievements of Josh, Alice and everyone involved in Social Bite are incredible, and powerfully show the power of design to change the world for the better. We are delighted to welcome them as V&A Dundee Design Champions.

To find out more, please visit the Social Bite website.

The V&A Dundee Design Champions are inspirational designers creating high-quality work and helping to enhance people’s lives, or champions of the power of design to improve the world.

We will announce 50 Design Champions in the run-up to the museum opening on Saturday 15 September 2018.

#VADchampions

V&A Dundee’s Design Champions project is working with Dezeen as its media partner.

Dezeen is the world’s most popular and influential architecture and design magazine, with an audience of 2.5 million unique visitors each month. 

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