Work is well underway at Scotland’s first homeless village at West Shore Road in Edinburgh’s Granton district and independent plant hire business Jarvie Plant is playing a crucial role.

The innovative development is the brainchild of Josh Littlejohn, co-founder of Social Bite – an Edinburgh-based social enterprise sandwich shop that employs homeless people.

The settlement will comprise of ten eco-friendly, purpose-built ‘nest houses’ to provide a safe living environment for up to 20 homeless people each year.

Each person will be able to stay in the village for 12 to 18 months and during their stay will be able to access other support such as employment advice and counselling.

And as part of the ongoing construction works Jarvie Plant has delivered a 3 tonne excavator, 24’ accommodation unit, 20’ safe store and an island welfare unit.

The involvement in the project follows sharply after the donation by Jarvie Plant of a furnished 12’ static accommodation unit to Social Bite’s ‘Sleep in the Park’ event in Princes Street Gardens.

“Homelessness in Scotland is a terrible affliction on our nation so it is great to see an enterprise like Social Bite make strides to combat it with such a forward thinking development,” said Jarvie Plant’s director, David Jarvie.

“We were only too happy to lend our support to the Sleep in the Park event and the kit on site in Granton will be crucial to the ground works and meet vital welfare needs.”

It is expected that the first units on the 1.5 acre site will be completed in Spring 2018 with the first of the residents moving in shortly after.

“The Social Bite Village hopes to create a full circle solution to the issue of homelessness – from housing to employment,” explained Social Bite co-founder, Josh Littlejohn.