Inquirer Christmas campaign: Help us support Cyrenians vital work with city homeless
Plus: Your cultural highlights for the week ahead
Hello Inquirers,
It’s a big day for us at the Inquirer. We are launching our Christmas campaign in support of the life-changing work of the Cyrenians on the streets of Edinburgh.
You can read all about this amazing charity and what they hope to achieve in the Capital below, as well as in a series of features over the coming weeks.
The Inquirer team have seen the Cyrenians work in the city first-hand. We know any donation you can make will make a real difference to the life of someone going through perhaps the hardest time of their life.
Today, we are also launching our new and improved midweek roundup newsletter.
You’ll find your usual catch-up on the most important important and most interesting news headlines that you might have missed in recent days, but with the added bonus of our top picks for the cultural week ahead.
One of the main things you asked for in our recent readers’ survey was more coverage of all the exciting cultural happenings in the Capital. So we asked our resident culture guru Will Quinn to give us a weekly rundown of the things you simply won’t want to miss.
As always, we would love to hear what you think, and what else you would like to see us covering. We love the fact that many of our best ideas for stories and features come from our subscribers.
Your Edinburgh Briefing
MORE MARKS: Marks & Spencer have announced plans to open two new stores in Edinburgh as part of an expansion aimed at doubling its UK food business. The high street chain hopes to open outlets in Morningside and Leith - where it closed its food court in Ocean Terminal in the face of local protests in 2022 - as well as refurbish its stores in Craigleith and Livingston.
“STUMBLE BLOCK” MEMORIAL: A brass memorial plaque to a Scottish Holocaust victim has been unveiled outside St Stephen’s Church in Stockbridge. The Stolperstein, of “stumbling block”, commemorates Jane Haining, who was murdered at Auschwitz after leaving Edinburgh to work in Budapest as a matron. The Stolperstein is a small brass plaque set into the pavement as a personal memorial to a victim of the Nazis, designed to be stumbled upon by passers-by.
ROCK STAR: One of the world’s most important geological sites could be upgraded to mark the 300th anniversary of the birth of James Hutton. The unusual rock formation at Siccar Point, near Cockburnspath, in the Scottish Borders, helped the Edinburgh-born “father of modern geology” form his theory of “deep time”. The Edinburgh Geological Society is applying for permission to upgrade a path to the viewpoint and rebrand it the Siccar Point Deep Time Discovery Trail.
LIFE’S A BEACH: You know how it is, you wait ages for a coastal sauna plan and then two come along at once… Award-winning ice cream makers and seafood specialists Alandas want to build a permanent restaurant, along with beach huts and a sauna, at Longniddry Bents. They currently operate a mobile cafe there. Meanwhile, the beautiful cliff-top Drift cafe at Canty Bay, near North Berwick, is also applying to East Lothian Council for planning permission for a sauna. That is part of its proposals to extend its temporary permission for the cafe for a further five years.
CAMERON TOLL: Student accommodation and housing are part of new proposals for redeveloping Cameron Toll Shopping Centre. The outline plan for the site submitted to the council by Hunter Real Estate Investment Management also include cutting back car parking space and adding sheltered housing, offices and leisure facilities. The move comes six months after plans for a 109-bedroom hotel were approved for land next to the shopping centre. Cameron Toll would be the site of a stop on the council’s proposed new tramline to Little France.
Pick of the (Cultural) Pops
Hi there, Edinburgh culture vultures, and welcome to this first Pick of the (Cultural) Pops, writes Will Quinn. Each week, I’ll return to count down the top 5 cultural highlights happening in or around our fair city. All you have to do is read them and then decide whether to catch all five, or if only the top spot will qualify for entry into your busy diaries.
Think of it like a chart: some shows and events are gone in a day, while others stay for weeks. Some entries will stay until their run ends, or until they are knocked out by newcomers. Some shows, however, will blaze brightly for one night only and be long gone come next week’s chart.
So without further ado, let’s jump in.
Coming in at number 5 this week, we have.. Beyond Van Gogh & Beyond Monet at the Royal Highland Centre (29 November 2025 to 2 January 2026):
Walk inside the works of Van Gogh or Monet at the Royal Highland Centre this weekend - immersive experiences on an immense, 10,000sq ft scale. According to producers Annerin Productions and Paquin Entertainment Group, their walk-in Van Gogh has been seen by over 7 million visitors worldwide, whilst the latter is making its Scottish premiere. Is this a new way to experience great art, or an enormously cynical lantern show? It’ll be an impressive experience either way. Booking link: https://www.beyondvangogh.co.uk/city/edinburgh
Moving on, the first occupant of the 4th slot in the chart is It’s a Wonderful Life - Leitheatre at the Church Hill Theatre (26th - 29th November 2025):
Christmas is fast approaching, and the venerable Leitheatre (founded in 1946) are staging Mary Elliot Nelson’s highly regarded adaptation of Frank Capra’s movie, It’s a Wonderful Life, until this Saturday (the 29th). Expect this mighty band of unpaid professionals will blow you away with the quality of their seasonal offering. Booking link: https://cultureedinburgh.com/events/its-a-wonderful-life
Moving on to number 3, I give you Blazing Fiddles with Julie Fowlis at the Queen’s Hall - 30th November 2025:
Back in 1998, fiddler Bruce MacGregor put together a band for a one-off gig - he retired from the band 26 years later, though new blood has kept their strings on fire since. With fans worldwide, 11 albums, a slew of awards, plus a BBC Proms appearance under their belts, this is Scottish folk at its most elite. If that’s not enough, they are joined by the golden-voiced Julie Fowlis, a true global superstar - she’s worth the price of admission alone. Booking link: https://cultureedinburgh.com/events/blazin-fiddles-with-julie-fowlis
Now it’s time for our first Number 2 (what an honour) Inside No.9 Stage/Fright at the Edinburgh Playhouse (25th - 29th November 2025):
Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith’s Inside No.9 Stage/Fright brings the cult black comedy’s West End stage adaptation to Edinburgh for 5 nights and a matinee. Expect 2 hours of slickly produced, deeply uncanny chuckles if you can get tickets — Friday and Saturday were sold out as I wrote this. Booking link: https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/inside-no-9-stage-fright/edinburgh-playhouse/
Which leaves the top spot to an act that blew me away this year’s Edinburgh Fringe…Liam Withnail - Big Strong Boy at Monkey Barrel (2 shows on 6th December 2025):
Thoroughly likeable Stand-up Comedian Liam Withnail’s Big Strong Boy was a standout of this year’s Edinburgh Fringe — I gave it all 5 stars. Eighteen years ago, at the age of 18, Liam ran away from home to Edinburgh. With a blend wonderfully wry wit and sharp observation, Liam reflects on his origins and where he is right now. These special recording shows are your chance to catch a first rate comedian at the top of their game. Booking Link: https://booking.monkeybarrelcomedy.com/monkey-barrel-comedy-1/liam-withnail-big-strong-boy-special-recording/
We hope you enjoyed our first cultural highlights. Don’t miss next Thursday’s edition for more of Will’s top tips.
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The Inquirer Christmas campaign in support of the Cyrenians
Edinburgh’s Housing Emergency - how we got here, and how we can make things better
It has been two years since it was announced that Edinburgh, our nation’s capital and Scotland’s wealthiest city, is in the throes of a housing emergency.
Since then you may have read our articles exposing the shocking number of children living in temporary accommodation, often without a kitchen or appropriate facilities. You might also have noticed – and felt concerned for – the increasing number of rough sleepers in Edinburgh city centre.
Even those of us who do not feel the nagging threat of acute homelessness, have felt the pressure of this emergency, as Edinburgh’s rents continue to rise at an unprecedented rate and competition for housing grows every year.
Housing and homelessness is becoming an increasingly complicated, multi-faceted problem for the city we call home – but what does this mean for the people at the sharpest end of this crisis, and how do we address this problem? The Inquirer believes this may be the single biggest challenge facing our city.
Over the next month, Edinburgh Inquirer is partnering with Cyrenians, a charity that has worked to address homelessness in and around Edinburgh since the 1960s, to try to answer that question.
Be part of the solution this winter
This series of four articles will dive deeper into what it means to be in the midst of a housing emergency, how we got here, and what needs to be done to ensure that acute homelessness isn’t inevitable - for any of Edinburgh’s residents.
These articles are part of a larger campaign Cyrenians are running this Winter, to raise money to fund their work.
This Christmas, as we continue into the coldest, darkest time of the year, our hope is that you may consider donating £8 a month – the same modest amount it costs to subscribe to this newsletter – to help fund the employability programmes, family mediation sessions, and supported communities that ensure homelessness is not inevitable and never repeated. We know the readers of Edinburgh Inquirer care deeply about what is happening in this city and we hope you will extend that care to help a local charity that cares for its most vulnerable residents.
Because in a city like ours, everyone should have a place to call home.
The human right to housing is supported by national and international law, but in Edinburgh right now, that right hinges on how much you have to spend. Those earning minimum wage – many of whom have children or caring obligations - are having to survive on very little per month after rent – with the average one-bed flat equating to 62% percent of a full-time minimum wage monthly salary.
Scale of the challenge
And that’s just the people who are in full-time work. Looking at Rightmove earlier this year, we found that only 1.3% of the one-bedroom properties listed were affordable for those in receipt of housing allowance. When people cannot afford private rental accommodation and the waiting list for social housing can be as long as ten years - temporary accommodation – which rarely suits a person’s needs – is the only option.
To many, the answer to this problem is to build more social housing and they are not wrong, more social housing is desperately needed. In 1981, there were 54,380 social homes in Edinburgh. Today, there are only 40,500 catering to a population which has grown by around 100,000. Shelter released a report estimating that we need to build 7,860 social homes in the east of Scotland every year for five years to make up this shortfall.
But to focus only on housing would be to focus only on one part of the problem.
The lack of - and expense of - housing is responsible for this crisis but cannot be relied upon as the sole solution. Research, and Cyrenians’ decades of experience delivering frontline support, suggests that to truly end homelessness, we need more than just housing. We are most at risk of homelessness when we are at a transition point in our lives, for example, when transferring out of care at 18, leaving an abusive relationship or being discharged from hospital.
Need for trust
These are the times when people are at their most vulnerable and most susceptible to homelessness. They may be estranged from family or friends, and have very few people they can turn to. In these situations, Cyrenians have found that most people need more than just housing – they need community, people they can trust and mental health support.
A 2019 report by Women’s Aid found that one in three survivors of gender-based abuse had to give up their home. These people urgently need somewhere safe to stay, but where are they meant to go if they realise their abuser has figured out their new address?
We know that care-experienced people are twice as likely to experience homelessness as your average citizen. They, undoubtedly, need better access to social housing. But what if that house is miles from the friends who have become their lifeline?
Vital support
Amy Hutton, Director of Services and Cyrenians said: “This kind of support is vital to ensure homelessness is not reoccurring, but when Local Authorities are barely managing to fulfil their legal duty to find housing for people, it often falls to charities like Cyrenians. And it’s vital that that support is there, when we know that that homelessness can have a devastating impact on a person’s health.
“A 2018 study found that homeless people have higher rates of premature mortality than the rest of the population. As the number of homeless presentations go up, affordable housing becomes more and more scarce and money for support services are cut, it is no exaggeration to say that people’s lives are being put at risk.”
Over the next month, Cyrenians will be making the case for a ‘public health approach’ to combat this serious threat to our city. Over the course of three articles, the charity will explain how they are preventing homelessness, intervening early, and supporting people into a home that is right for them.
You will hear from some of Cyrenians’ employees who work tirelessly to make sure that no-one is facing homelessness on their own, learning about the people whose mission it is to make sure that homelessness is rare, brief and non-recurring.
Edinburgh is a small city – to combat this growing crisis, we need more than just bricks and mortar. We need community. Please donate to support Cyrenians work and help keep Edinburgh a place where everybody can live.