Charity serving Edinburgh's homeless Christmas dinner

Over a hundred volunteers will give out over five hundred meals.

The Crisis Skylight Edinburgh team delivering Christmas meals
Author: Donald ErskinePublished 14 hours ago
Last updated 14 hours ago

A homelessness charity will deliver five hundred hot meals to the capital’s homeless on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

Crisis Skylight Edinburgh will serve a mix of traditional Christmas dinners, steak pies, and other alternatives.

They’re giving these to people across Edinburgh and the Lothians who are experiencing homelessness.

In addition to the meals, they’re giving out ‘wellbeing packs, ’ which contain gifts, toiletries, essentials, and some store-canned foods.

Crisis has also been holding some festive events, such as gingerbread decorating and some festive trips.

Some of the Crisis Skylight Edinburgh team

“Literally been life-saving."

Jenny Whyte, Christmas Manager for Crisis Skylight Edinburgh, said: “It’s such a lovely, warm and friendly time of year for a lot of people, and if that isn’t your situation it can be really, really difficult.

“Especially for a lot of the people we work with who are experiencing homelessness, a lot of them are disconnected from friends and family and very isolated.

“Obviously, there’s the financial side of Christmas that can reinforce pressures if people aren’t in a good position financially.

“So, we just try and make people feel as connected and as cared for as we possibly can, we just want everyone to know that people are thinking of them – we hope we make people feel a bit special and care about.”

The charity has a team of volunteers and partners, including a team of knitters helping to knit warm clothing and people who donate food for the meals.

Jenny helps the team with the festivities, and she explained the impact their support has: “It means the world to some people.

“We’ve had people say that they feel like their engagements with us have literally been life-saving.

“I think people can be at a really low point and just knowing that other people care about them and are thinking about them is so important.

“A lot of the people we work with are really touched by the number of volunteers that give up their time.

“We’ve got over a hundred volunteers helping us out this year, who are giving up their time and their own family Christmases to support people that just need that a little bit.

“It’s really lovely, it’s such a nice thing to be involved in.”

Jenny passed on a massive thanks to all of Crisis’ volunteers and partners. If you’d like to donate or get involved, their website is https://www.crisis.org.uk/.

Hear all the latest news from across Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and Falkirk on Forth 1. Listen on FM, via the Rayo app, on DAB or on your smart speaker.