A new Edinburgh charity has emerged to serve one of the capital’s most vulnerable populations.
The Wee Hours formed in October 2024 and distributes critical supplies to homeless residents every Friday night at 9pm. Volunteers gather on Waverley Bridge every week through all weather, fostering an unmatched community at a time when it is most needed.
Volunteers are warm and welcoming, offering tents, toiletries, clothing, and sweets to rough sleepers. One volunteer even gave a pair of his own shoes to a homeless man while Edinburgh Live visited the charity.
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CEO and The Wee Hours founder, Donna Ewing, noticed a gap in the services available to homeless people in Edinburgh. She met lots of her current service users through previous charity work and she soon began wondering what other support they might benefit from.
Donna Ewing founded The Wee Hours in 2024 to fill a gap in Edinburgh’s homeless services -Credit:Edinburgh Live
She told Edinburgh Live: “It progressed into, ‘what else do you need?’ Especially during COVID, there was nowhere to get stuff. If you need a tent or you need a pair of pants, there’s nowhere to go this time of night.”
Her idea to create a brand new charity gained urgency when a regular at another charity introduced her to a pair of homeless youth.
She told Edinburgh Live: “I can still see it in my head. Two kids came out of the station late at night, a boy and a girl. They had no shoes in the rain and were soaking wet. The regular said, ‘I brought them to you because I knew you’d know what to do’ – and I did. I started a charity.
“It’s bad enough when it’s adults being out, let alone children. They couldn’t get warm, they couldn’t get dry, they had no shelter. There has to be somewhere that they can at least get a pair of pants or a toothbrush, things that people take for granted.”
One man who visits The Wee Hours told Edinburgh Live: “I don’t go to churches and stuff like that. I always come here because they’re always friendly. They have everything. I am sensible, so I just get what I need, like boxer shorts and long johns.
The Wee Hours distributes critical supplies on Waverley Bridge every Friday night -Credit:Edinburgh Live
“It’s not what they give, it’s how they give. They smile, they make you feel special. For me, that’s the most important part.”
It was clear from spending just an hour with the charity that its volunteers cared deeply about their service users. One man named Steven was picking up some doughnuts and off-handedly mentioned needing a new pair of shoes. A volunteer named Craig immediately offered him a pair of his own shoes from the back of his van, saying “you need them more than I do.”
Donna and the volunteers are committed to an entirely non-judgemental approach to their service. During her past charity work, Donna met a homeless man who was drinking a Tennant’s can early in the morning, who challenged her preconceptions.
Donna shared: “He said, ‘I bet you want to know why I drink in the morning? I drink to become unconscious because when you’re unconscious, and you’re sleeping rough, you don’t feel the idiots kicking you and you don’t hear what they call you.’
“I sat there and listened to them and thought I need to do more to help these people.”
The team welcomes more volunteers to run their services -Credit:Edinburgh Live
In the coming years, Donna has ambitious plans for the charity to expand their services. She hopes to establish a mobile service that serves free food on weekends. Donna’s dream is also to establish the Wee Hours in a building with showers, washing machines, and tumble dryers.
She added: “That’s my dream, that’s my five year plan.”
Donna’s family was pivotal in getting the project off the ground. She said: “My family have been involved from sorting, to volunteering and collecting donations. My Brother started my website and created a collection point in Dalkeith at Christmas and we had donations coming in for weeks. I’m grateful to have them for support”.
On an average night, The Wee Hours distributes around 30 to 40 pairs of socks and boxer shorts per week. They also appreciate donations of jackets, trousers, tents, sleeping bags, and toiletries. They accept donations through their Just Giving campaign and through their Amazon Wishlist, which directly provides vital supplies like winter clothes and hand warmers to rough sleepers.
The charity currently operates with the help of between five and 10 volunteers and they welcome new volunteers to aid with administrative tasks and run their programmes. If you might be keen to distribute food with their outreach van or organise a collection, they would love to receive your support. You can contact them here.
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