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Charities' Thanks to Soup Cafe

Friday July 12 2024


Two Edinburgh charities have thanked the founders of a café which has provided thousands of litres of soup for homeless people over more than a decade.

The Union of Genius café, on Forrest Road in the city centre, has supplied the Care Van run by Bethany Christian Trust and Edinburgh City Mission since 2013. Earlier this week, owners Elaine and Bruce Mason announced that the business had been sold.

In a thank you message to Elaine and Bruce, the two charities said they had supplied the van with 26,400 litres of soup over 2640 nights.

Ruth Longmuir, Director of Internal Services at Bethany Christian Trust, said: “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.”

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.

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.”


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