A new vehicle will enable Bethany Christian Trust to support more homeless people in Edinburgh.
A homelessness charity will be able to reach more people after taking delivery of a new care van.
Bethany Christian Trust unveiled the new vehicle at their offices in Leith this week.
Funded by a corporate donor, the van was custom designed with state of the art internal features and fitted by contractor and Bethany supporter, Daniel Haddow.
It will act as a mobile community hub outreach service, helping Bethany volunteers engage with more people in need on the streets of Edinburgh.
Run in partnership with Edinburgh City Mission, the care van reaches out to people who are homeless every evening and four lunchtimes each week. Starting back in 1990 as an evening service which distributed hot drinks, food and blankets to rough sleepers, today it also operates a lunchtime service providing healthy meals and mobile support to people who are rough sleeping or staying in temporary accommodation.
Care van volunteer Mary Craig, who cut the ribbon at the opening ceremony, said: “I volunteer on the care van because I was once homeless myself and I want to show love, care and compassion to those in need. The care van volunteering team aren’t just a team, they are a family.”
The previous van will be relocated to Glasgow in the coming weeks, where it will be put into service to help people in the city’s most deprived areas.
Alasdair Bennett, Bethany’s chief executive, said: “The care van partnership not only offers sustenance, practical support, emergency intervention and on-street outreach, but crucially communicates compassion and offers living hope to men and women on our streets.
“We are very grateful for the new care van and we are privileged to partner with Edinburgh City Mission, 42 local churches, and a range of businesses in the provision of this vital service.”
Duncan Cuthill, CEO of Edinburgh City Mission, added: “We are very grateful for the new van which will enable us to continue to provide people who are homeless with a really good, reliable service.”
