Jane Devine on the property crisis facing organisations in the capital
Charity shops are a well-tested, traditional model for getting funding into charities.
Our high streets are full of them, each raising the profile and awareness of that charity - and raising money, be it for homelessness or another cause.
The model is sound. Stock is free, donated, and volunteers help keep staff costs down. As charities, rates are usually wiped or heavily discounted. Shoppers get bargains, communities have vibrant streets, less waste goes to landfill, and charities get an income to support their work.
I’ve been running Four Square, a charity supporting people who are homeless in Edinburgh, for almost seven years now - and this model serves us well. Our charity shop, Edinburgh Furniture Initiative, employs over 20 staff and provides over 4,000 hours of volunteering each year.
Around 35% of our paid staff have been homeless and the shop turns over £1.35 million each year, with £530,000 surplus going straight into homeless services last year alone.
This money allows us to do things well. We don’t just provide homes, we provide beautiful homes for people facing homelessness. We pay staff above the living wage and we fund some of our own services, including a programme to support young homeless people into good jobs.
But like many other social enterprises, our future is precarious. High rents, the unstoppable tide of student accommodation and the need for more housing (the irony of which is not lost on me) all make renting big warehouse space in accessible areas of the city really challenging.
Like many social enterprises, we are in buildings which become unaffordable once the lease is up - or, in our case, if the building is put up for sale because the land is highly valuable.
Social enterprises in Edinburgh are particularly vulnerable. Edinburgh Remakery has moved multiple times in the last few years due to leases ending, and Move On’s wood recycling enterprise has recently closed due to high rents. Others who have had to move, really struggle finding suitable and affordable alternative spaces.
Our own lease runs out next March and with no option to renew, we’ll either need to raise the money to buy the site, or find somewhere else affordable to lease. This will not be easy.
Social enterprises such as ours that collect donations, mend things, build things or upcycle things, need space and need to be accessible to the public. Chucking us into industrial estates is not the answer. Even if it was, industrial estates are fast becoming unaffordable too. The fact is, we are being priced out of Edinburgh.
So, despite the perfect policy environment, the social enterprise sector in Edinburgh is under real threat.
Four Square is actively trying to buy our current site at 454 Gorgie Road, and is looking for development partners as well as donations via a crowdfunder.
If we can secure the site, we will open up retail space to other social enterprises and try to protect all our futures.
Please contact Jane Devine, CEO of Four Square, for more information and to have a discussion, please email janed@foursqaure.org.uk
