Kathy Hoyle will lead the team of support staff working at the Social Bite Village
Edinburgh's new Social Bite Village has appointed Kathy Hoyle as its first manager.
The village will provide a home for up to 20 people affected by homelessness and will be run in partnership between Social Bite and Cyrenians, which has almost 50 years’ experience in delivering residential community models to those affected by homelessness.
The charity, which already employs Hoyle, will provide the support and care for the community of the purpose built village located in Granton.
The aim of the village is to empower residents with the skills required to maintain an independent and meaningful life away from homelessness and the issues which may have contributed to their homeless experience such as unemployment, relationship breakdown, debt, addiction and mental health difficulties.
Hoyle has worked for Cyrenian since 2006. She joined the charity as a volunteer before moving into a job at Cyrenians Communities supporting young people directly affected by homelessness.
After this, Hoyle took on a role supporting people to maintain accommodation in the private rented sector as an alternative to homelessness, before spending four years working for Cyrenians Homeless Prevention Service and then joining Cyrenians Fareshare Depot as deputy manager in 2012.
She has a wealth of knowledge and experience in supporting those affected by the tough realties of homelessness; she is professional, genuine, caring, highly personable and committed to making the village a great success.
Hoyle said: “I am thrilled to be managing such an exciting and innovative project. The village has the potential to be an enormously transformative and supportive place for people to live whilst they tackle some complex challenges. With the support of Cyrenians, the residents will have an opportunity to live in a community where they will be given the space to form relationships and build up skills. This feels like an opportunity for us to make history and I am very excited to be part of that.”
Hoyle will be taking part in Social Bite’s Sleep in the Park event on 9 December and will be found at the Cyrenians stall. She will welcome people to come and have a chat and ask any questions they might have about the village.
