About - Cyrenians

Our History: 1966-1970

1966 – Father Anthony Ross and colleagues open Skippers Cafe – a night shelter for rough sleepers.
1968 – Skippers closes and Edinburgh Cyrenian Trust is formed. We buy a house in Broughton Place, Edinburgh, and designate it as a new type of community living model that eventually includes ‘all people in care for each other’.
1969 – BBC1 broadcasts a programme featuring the Broughton Place community. Capturing the Cyrenians’ ethos of ‘everyone matters’, residents agree to take part – as long as they can carry out the interviews!
Our History: 1970-1975

1970 – We buy Humbie Holdings – an eight-acre farm in West Lothian. Young homeless people and other volunteers run the farm, under the supervision of a volunteer manager.
1971 – We form a second city community, for young women.
1972 – Peter Yeo, former Skippers volunteer, community resident and social worker, becomes our first full time paid employee.
1973 – We register the farm and city communities as hostels under the Social Work (Scotland) Act. We hire more paid staff – but ensure they still live in the communities.
Our History: 1975-1980

1976 – We hire Bob Stewart as our Co-ordinator.
1976 – Our football team – the Cyros – plays their first match (although it takes a while to win our first game – against the Glasgow Simon Community)
1978 – We hire our first full-time farm manager and a flat is donated for volunteer residents and staff on days off. Until now, staff have stayed in the communities even when not working, to demonstrate our values: ‘everyone the same, everyone treated equally’.
Our History: 1980-1985

1980 – The Broughton Place community is upgraded and we acquire a new, larger flat for volunteer residents’ days off.
1984 – We hire a part-time administrator – our fourth salaried post.
Our History: 1985-1990

1988 – Des Ryan appointed as new director of Cyrenians.
1989 – Friends of Cyrenians is launched to encourage donations from individuals.
1989 – We start our first campaign – calling for more help for rough sleepers.
Our History: 1990-1995

1990 – Drive for Success – offering driving lessons to young unemployed people to help improve their job prospects.
1991 – We build a barn and polytunnels at the farm.
1992 – Tenants in Control – a chance for young homeless people to create their own housing co-operative.
1993 – Our charity shop in Portobello High Street opens.
Our History: 1995-2000

1996 – 1999 – New Opportunities: our first foray into preventative work; Smartmove: helps homeless people into private rented flats; New Deal, New Futures – an employer-led initiative and our first employability programmel; Rent Deposit Scheme. Our farm becomes a social enterprise.
1997 – We win the Scottish Employee Initiative Partnership award for our ongoing association with Standard Life.
1998 – The Broughton Place community moves to Ferry Road. We keep Broughton Place as emergency accommodation for young women.
Our History: 2000-2005

2000 – Fareshare opens in partnership with Crisis, and we run our first cooking classes for people living in hostels.
2001 – People with Potential: an employability project aiming to increase access to work and to give support to those in work.
2002 – West Lothian school education programme.
2003 – We expand Fareshare and the Rent Deposit Scheme to West Lothian.
2004 – We open the Edinburgh Refugee Centre in partnership with the Scottish Government, City of Edinburgh Council and St George’s West Church.
Our History: 2005-2007

2005 – Drugs Outreach project in West Lothian.
2006 – Safe Space created to provide tenancy and support specifically for those recovering from addictions. Amber, our conflict resolution service begins its work.
2007 – Des Ryan wins Scottish business in the Community Award for his work with the private sector on understanding the positive impact of corporate social responsibility.
Our History: 2008-2010

2008 – Cyrenians named as one of the UK’s leading homelessness charities by New Philanthropy Capital. Expanded into Falkirk to deliver employment programmes for people coming out of the Criminal Justice system.
2009 – Cyrenians biggest ever contract- to run the City of Edinburgh Council’s Homeless Prevention service. In the same year Amber cited by Scottish Government as “best practice” in prevention of homelessness. Our biggest Social Enterprise CORE – Cyrenians Organics Recycling Enterprise launched – recycling business food waste.
Our History: 2010-2011

2010 – Cyrenians work with over 3000 people Edinburgh, Lothian’s and Falkirk. Established our Key Worker Practice Model across the organisation. CORE wins the Green Business Fife best Newcomer award for a Green Product or Service. Cyrenians begin work at Royal Edinburgh Hospital Community garden.
2011 – Cyrenians enter a partnership with Mitie to run CORE.
Our History: 2012

Key to Success school pupil mentoring work begins in four schools. We are commissioned to run NHS Community Gardens in Edinburgh and Midlothian. Amber’s leading mediation work recognised with a UK Children and Young Peoples Charity family support award. Cyrenians.
Our History: 2013-2014

2013 – Begin leading work of Fort Kinnaird Recruitment Skills Centre. Golden years, our older peoples’ befriending service launched in West Lothian. Caz Alcorn steps up as acting CEO following the tragic death of Des Ryan.
2014 – Cyrenians first national service, the Scottish Centre for Conflict resolution launched. Benefits and Money Advice service begins as well as Re:D – Criminal Justice Peer mentoring. Ewan Aitken appointed CEO.
Our History: 2015

Cyrenians now running 24 projects in 7 local authorities journeying with over 4400 people each year. Cyrenians 5 year plan for growth begins; based on our new mission statement to support people excluded from family, home, work or community on their life journey we aim to grow the number of people we journey with and the time we journey with them, where we work, who we work with, the number of people who support us, the money we bring in and our ability to influence public policy. Veg Bag scheme begins.
Our History: 2016

Growth continues in 2016 as Cyrenians seeks to increase of the number of people we journey with, where we work and who we work with. A new older people’s befriending service in Edinburgh opens its doors in December. Our exciting partnership with JP Morgan and Scottish War Blinded to rejuvenate a disused Walled Garden in West Lothian begins. Produce from this garden to contribute to Cyrenians Farm Veg Bags. Farm and gardens working towards Organic Soil Association status. Cyrenians becomes a SCIO (Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation).

1966-’70
1970-’75
1975-’80
1980-’85
1985-’90
1990-’95
1995-’00
2000-’05
2005-’07
2008-’10
2010-’11
2012
2013-’14
2015
2016

Cyrenians serves those on the edge, working with people at risk of becoming homeless and supporting them to transform their lives by beginning with their story, helping them believe that they can change their lives, and walking with them as they lead their own transformation. The name Cyrenians comes from the biblical story of Simon the Cyrene but Cyrenians was founded as and remains a secular organisation.

Our Vision is an inclusive society in which we all have the opportunities to live valued and fulfilled lives. We work to make that vision a reality by our Mission to support people excluded from family, home, work or community on their life journey.

Our way of work is built on our four core values:

Compassion: We believe that everyone should have the chance to change, no matter how long that might take.
Respect: We believe in tolerance, acceptance, valuing diversity and treating each other as equals.
Integrity: We are committed to the highest quality of work, grounded in honesty, generosity, sincerity and professionalism.
Innovation: We are willing to take risks, challenge convention and be very creative in our search for new ways of working, in particular by taking account of the environmental impact of our decisions.

As part of our values driven approach we have been awarded the LGBT Charter Foundations Award. Find out more about this work, and other valuable resources here.

How we work

We aim to offer consistently excellent service delivery across all locations and activities. We also want to provide clarity for purchasers that our services are effective, including evidence of the difference made in the lives of the people we support. We have adopted a way of working that includes, in particular, training in the interpersonal elements of building 1:1 relationships. Cyrenians Key Work can be defined by:

our attitude We treat people with the respect of equals (adult to adult). We respond to the whole person rather than just the evident problems.

our style We work with people, preferring where possible to work ‘at the shoulder’ rather than from the other side of a desk. We want to create independence, not dependency.

our practice We are flexible, tolerant and understanding. We are tenacious in the offer of help and, if we can’t help we will guide people to those who can.

Working predominantly in Edinburgh, Lothians, Falkirk, Borders and Stirling but also with Scotland-wide services, our work is organised around four targeted areas of service:

Family and People

We work with families to build resilience, resolve issues and repair relationships, support older people to stay connected in their communities and provide a safe and supportive environment for people on their journey away from addiction. Services offered include:

Conflict Resolution, Mediation and Support – leaders in family conflict resolution and mediation.
Scottish Centre for Conflict Resolution – a national resource centre providing free training, events, on-line advice and information on mediation and family conflict resolution.
Cyrenians Befriending Service – befriending isolated older people, helping them make the best of their community.

Home and Housing

A commitment to tackling homelessness has been central to Cyrenians mission from the founding of the charity. We continue to build on this commitment, seeking innovative ways to prevent and alleviate homelessness, offering housing advice and providing supported housing for young people. Services offered include:

Residential Communities – our original projects offering a shared home and new community.
Outreach Project – supporting those who are homeless and experiencing severe and multiple need.

Work and Skills

Cyrenians provides supportive employability services that equip jobseekers to move into work across Scotland. By supporting those jobseekers with barriers to access employment and by offering skills and training, we not only assist our clients into work but we keep them in employment and away from benefits dependency. Services offered include:

Enterprise to Employment and Market Led Training – changing lives by bring people and employers together.
Key to Potential – working with pupils in their last 6 months of schooling who are facing barriers on their journey to employment.
Peer Mentoring and Criminal Justice Employability Programmes – using the lived experience of the criminal justice system to support others in the same place.

Community and Food

We have a range of services and social enterprises that teach people about the health and economic benefits of growing, cooking and eating good food together in our local communities. We also recognise that food can play a significant role in growing local economies, and we aim to empower local communities to take ownership of supply chains and to reduce dependence on global markets.

NHS Community Gardens – growing lives, building community, sharing food.
Farm Enterprise – growing good food and new futures since 1972.
Good Food – sharing what would otherwise go to waste, teaching cooking and budgeting.

Cyrenians is a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO), registered charity SC011052

Our People

Chief Executive

Ewan Aitken

Photo of Ewan Aitken

A former Convener of Education and Leader of Edinburgh City Council and CoSLA spokesperson on Education, Ewan has over 30 years’ experience in the Public and 3^rd sectors. He founded the National Prison Visitor Centre Steering group, the Ripple Project, the Youth Bus Trust and two Credit Unions. He is a member of Midlothian Integrated Joint Board and a Council member of the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce, chairing its Inspiring Communities Network.

Ewan is a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts, board member of the Ripple Project, Chair of BBC Children in Need Scotland Grants Committee, an advisor to Social Bite Communities Ltd. and to Circle Scotland and was a member of the CoSLA Commission on Strengthening Local Democracy. He’s Co-chair of the Edges of Care workgroup for the Independent Review of Care , a member of the Scottish Governments Rapid Rehousing Transition Plans Delivery Group and the Regional Council of the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Regional Deal.

In 2018 he received the SCVO Charity Awards Leading Light Award.

EwanAitken@cyrenians.scot

Leadership Team

Kathryn Reilly, Head of Finance and Corporate Services

Photo of Kathryn Reilly An Associate of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, Kathryn previously worked with the Roslin Foundation Group of Companies for 15 years. Various roles within the Group included Business and Facilities Management as well as Financial Accountant. She also gained significant experience in the mechanics of Grant Funding during this time.

Before moving to Roslin, Kathryn worked within the textiles and textile engineering sectors as Business Manager, then both Management and Financial Accountant. Kathryn joined Cyrenians in July 2013.

Outside of work, Kathryn volunteers with a local girls' football team, both as Club Treasurer and working directly with the girls in one of the teams.

Rachael Wallace-Lane, Head of Quality and Resilience

Photo of Rachel Wallace-Lane

Having spent 16 years in the corporate sector, working in public relations, marketing, facilities and operational management, Rachael committed to use her experience to develop services that would ensure those people seeking support have access to the best services.

Working for Shelter Scotland, Streetwork and joining Cyrenians in 2009 as Head of Early Intervention where she lead on developing award winning services, such as our Scottish Centre for Conflict Resolution and Support & Mediation. Rachael is now Head of Quality and Resilience, working alongside staff to develop tools that will help them do the job we ask them to do. Working to find ways to build sustainable resilience for staff with the intention that this resilience will, in turn, be something that ripples out to our society.

Rachael enjoyed volunteering as a Trustee for Zero Tolerance and currently volunteers for Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce in a mentoring capacity for Chief Executives looking to develop their operational systems in line with their strategic vision.

Neil Hay, Head of Enterprise

Neil Hay Neil joined Cyrenians in January 2015 as the Volunteering Coordinator before becoming our Senior Manager for Enterprises.

Initially working in food retail Neil subsequently operated a company in mainland Europe involving retail, wholesale and trading alongside warehousing, distribution and logistics.

Neil is responsible for Social Enterprise within Cyrenians, with diverse businesses including our Enterprise Training offering, the Good Food programme delivering a Care Farm, Food Education services, and our surplus food Fareshare redistribution depot.

Having joined our Leadership Team in 2018 as Head of Enterprise, Neil leads on development of corporate strategy for business development and as a member of the leadership team contribute to the overall corporate direction and planning for Cyrenians; development and nurturing of relationships with potential partners, including those within the third, public and corporate sectors and developing relationships with all key stakeholders are also part of his role.

Neil is also a Trustee of the Homeless World Cup.

Amy Hutton, Head of Services

Amy joined Cyrenians in 2006, originally managing our drug and alcohol services before moving into a position within the leadership team in 2011. Amy has responsibility for the strategic management of our residential services, criminal justice work, community gardens, and work with people experiencing the most explicit forms of homelessness including Housing First.

Amy has a particular focus on our practice with those who experience severe and multiple disadvantage and specifically the development of holistic and relational interventions and expansion of evidence on these approaches.

Having studied Community Education, Amy is passionate about the ability of the voluntary sector to engage with communities in helping the people and the environment around them; and firmly believes that the flexibility, creativity and tenacity of the voluntary sector will be crucial in tackling the problems emerging as a result of tough economic times.

Originally from the north of Scotland, Amy and her family have settled in sunny Portobello.

Michelle Lloyd, Head of Services

Michelle joined Cyrenians in July 2017, not least because she shares their vision of an inclusive society where we respect diversity and all have opportunities to live valued and fulfilled lives.
As a member of the Leadership Team, Michelle has responsibility for the strategic management of our Mediation and Support services, HMP Addiewell Visitor Centre, Employability services and the national Scottish Centre for Conflict Resolution.

In addition to her work with Cyrenians, Michelle is also a Special Advisor to the Women and Equalities Select Committee at Westminster. Prior to joining Cyrenians she worked for MECOPP (Minority Ethnic Carers of People Project) and, amongst other things, initiated the Gypsy/Traveller Carers' Programme, an award-winning programme working in rural and urban areas with one of Scotland’s most marginalised, and discriminated against, communities.

With an educational background in Social Anthropology, Michelle’s employment experience, in Scotland and overseas, has been varied - in the past working for Save the Children, the University of Glasgow and Health in Mind. She enjoys working with people and is particularly interested in issues around equality and wellbeing. She has a strong track record of using the creative arts as research, advocacy and training tools and is passionate about challenging injustices.

Trustees

Kirsty Bathgate (Chair)

Photo of Kirsty Bathgate Kirsty joined Cyrenians as a Trustee in January 2015 to support the organisation to achieve its aims of serving and journeying further with more people as it grows and took on the role of Chair in March 2019. Kirsty is a professional accredited executive coach and strategic business consultant, working with companies at all stages of growth, having previously built a successful Tourism/Tech business.

Isobel Wylie

Carolyn Girvan

John Lawrie

Photo of John Lawrie John Lawrie has been a trustee since 2003. He was an investment manager for Scottish Provident and was for four years an Edinburgh City Councillor. He is Convenor of Volunteer Centre Edinburgh and has previously served as a Trustee and Chair of Edinvar Housing Association, the Samaritans, Telephone Helplines Association, and Penumbra. He was awarded the OBE in 1990 and appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for the City of Edinburgh in 2012.