Tribute to Edinburgh Café from Edinburgh Charities

Scottish homelessness charity, Bethany Christian Trust and Edinburgh City Mission would like to thank Union of Genius for over a decade of support.

Since April 2013, the much-loved soup café’s founders, Elaine and Bruce, provided 26,400 litres of soup to the Care Van, a project run jointly by Bethany Christian Trust and Edinburgh City Mission to provide food and support for people in crisis in Scotland’s capital city.

Elaine and Bruce’s generosity has helped sustain the operation of the Care Van for over a decade, catering to people in need over the course of 2,640 nights.

The Edinburgh Care Van offers food and support to people in crisis on the streets of Edinburgh.

Ruth Longmuir, Director of Internal Services at Bethany Christian Trust, remembers the start of this incredible partnership: “Bruce and Elaine came out on the Care Van in the early days of the arrangement. They were just really keen to support people who were homeless.”

Duncan Cuthill, Chief Executive of Edinburgh City Mission, expressed their gratitude: “The Care Van is a lifeline for many people and Union of Genius have enabled us to offer absolutely top quality cups of soup on many cold evenings over the past decade.”

The Care Van visits various stops around Edinburgh city centre throughout the year, providing food, hot drinks, help or just someone to speak to for people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. In 2022 the project was awarded the prestigious Queen’s Award in recognition of the contribution of the Care Van volunteers and the impact this service has in the community.

Bethany Christian Trust and Edinburgh City Mission thank Union of Genius, and Elaine and Bruce, for their compassion, kindness and generosity over the years.