Leader comment: Backing Cyrenians #50for50 campaign

Leith Depot is among the businesses asking customers to donate Â£1 with their bill. Pictured are customer Eric Swanepoel and bar tender Fiona Redwood

We may even have averted our eyes as we walked on rather than be confronted by the growing scandal that is rough sleeping in Edinburgh.

But this is not something which can be ignored. In fact, it should be a source of shame to everyone that there are people without a home in such a prosperous city as Edinburgh.

Tackling the issue should be a top priority, and that’s not just the immediate issue of a roof over the head. Today, we report on the #50for50 campaign by the Cyrenians which we are proud to support. It is celebrating its 50th year by recruiting 50 establishments across Edinburgh to ask each table of customers to add a £1 donation to their total bill. It’s a simple idea with money raised going to the Good Food Programme’s eight-week cookery classes for the homeless, as well as year-round community meals for vulnerable people. We hope as many businesses and readers will support the campaign as possible and make it the most successful yet.

We won’t solve homelessness overnight, but we can make a start.