Edinburgh Cyrenians is an independent Scottish Charity (number SCO11052) with an outstanding track record in pioneering creative solutions to the contemporary problems faced by people on the margins of society, such as; homelessness, poverty, deep unemployment, recovery from addiction and recidivism.
The charity also has an environmental brief, seeing the connection between valuing people and valuing our planet as part of the solution to a sustainable and happy future for society. Cyrenians trade-mark approach is to do new things really well and use the evidence of benefit to inform and inspire wider change.
A Brief History
Edinburgh Cyrenians Trust was formed in 1968 by local people out of concern for the evident problem of homelessness in Scotland's capital city. Although sharing the name "Cyrenian" with other groups in Scotland and the UK, there are no operational links.
The name Cyrenian is derived from the Biblical personage Simon of Cyrene, who was "volunteered" from the crowd to share the burden of the Cross with Jesus. However, Edinburgh Cyrenians is not affiliated to any religious creed or organisation.
The UK-wide Simon or Cyrenian movement of the 1960s encouraged members of local communities to open hearts and minds to people who rejected or were rejected by normal society. Practical help to combat poverty, isolation and homelessness would be provided by setting up outreach services and shared homes, run as conscious communities, offering a sense of belonging and involvement as much as a place to live: an alternative community.
Cyrenians in Edinburgh set up a 24-hour drop-in in The Cowgate, and then a community house in Broughton Place in July 1968, followed by the setting up of Cyrenians Farm Community near Kirknewton for people who needed to get away from the pressures of the city as part of their recovery. Such initiatives and the approach taken were highly unusual and revolutionary in their time.
Forty and more years on, Cyrenians still have the City and Farm Community at its core but now extend a helping hand-up to over 3,000 people a year across the Lothians and Falkirk with services and enterprises that help people to achieve a settled home, employment, recovery from addictions, better health and well-being and greater resilience to life's problems.
But Cyrenians retains the passion and entrepreneurial character of its founders and early years. The core Cyrenian values are now embedded in the Key Worker Practice Model used by all our workers across our services. There is still an indefatigable commitment to reaching out and engaging with people trapped on the margins and working with them to fulfil their potential as contributing members of society. And there remains the characteristic Cyrenian approach of 'inviting' the rest of society to play its part in helping and sharing the journey towards a more caring and inclusive community.
