Appeal to help homeless virus protection brings huge response
A West End deli has been overwhelmed with the response to its appeal for customers to continuing supporting local businesses through the Coronavirus outbreak
Roots owners Catriona and Mark Spence-Ashiq said their dual appeal to help the local homeless population keep safe with donations of soap, hand wash and towels has brought in many donations.
The William Street deli and salad bar was anxious after a dramatic drop in customers with many local officer workers remaining at home and appealed for people to continue shopping at their premises and other local outlets.
The appeal hit home and Catriona said: “We are almost speechless. We put a plea for people to support local, independent businesses and to help us support our homeless friends at a very scary time, and my goodness, they have come through.
“In the last 48 hours, we’ve had so many walk through our door to show support, buy a coffee, get lunch, introduce a chum, try us for the first time, try us for the 300th time, that we are actually totally overwhelmed with how fortunate we are.
“We feel utterly blessed that so many have shown how much they care about us, about small businesses, about independent businesses and it’s been a rather emotional couple days. The weeks and months ahead are going to be tough, and we shall continue to rely on their support, but please rest assured we do not take any of it for granted.
“In addition, we’ve had some amazing donations come through for our appeal to collect soaps, hand wash and towels to distribute amongst our homeless community.”
Catriona said they will consult with charities and support groups including the Grassmarket Community, Rock Trust and Steps to Hope SCIO to determine the best way to distribute the donations.
She added: “In the meantime please keep the donations coming in. If every person could bring just one bar of soap, a whole community in Edinburgh will be better protected than they currently are.”
@grassmarketcommunity @therocktrust @stepstohopescio
Stephen Rafferty is a former crime correspondent at The Scotsman and was a staff reporter for the Daily Record and Edinburgh Evening News. He has freelanced for many of the Scottish and UK national newspaper titles. Got a story? Get in touch - stephen@theedinburghreporter.co.uk
