The Dundee addiction recovery village could make the city a pioneer in tackling drug deaths, according to the founder of the charity behind the plans.
Josh Littlejohn co-founded Social Bite in 2012, which has gone on to raise over £8 million for projects aimed at ending homelessness.
The charity has been backed by a number of high profile stars over the years, including George Clooney, Leonardo DiCaprio and the Princess of Wales.
Among the initiatives launched by Social Bite is their very own village in Edinburgh which offers support and opportunities to homeless people, enabling them to find permanent accommodation.
And it’s hoped the success of the Edinburgh village can prove to be the blueprint for Dundee.
Josh said: “It has been a successful project, we’ve gathered data from it and found it has had a profound impact on people who were in a situation of homelessness.
“We found that almost all of the people who moved on to their own tenancy (after being in the village) are still sustaining that. It was breaking that cycle of homelessness.
“And it gave us the inspiration to think about replicating or expanding it and around 18 months ago we announced plans to build two more villages.”
The Dundee addiction recovery project came about after a visit to the Edinburgh village by Lynne Henderson and Keir Sword – trustees of The WM Sword Charitable Trust.
Following their visit, the charitable trust offered to contribute £1.5million towards a similar initiative in Dundee.
‘Other cities can look to it as an example’
Dundee’s village will include 15 eco-friendly prefabricated ‘nest houses’ with a bedroom, kitchen, lounge area and storage.
A community hub will also be built in the village, complete with communal dining space, gym facilities and counselling rooms.
Josh said: “The homelessness situation in Dundee is slightly different to that in Edinburgh, so replicating that village wouldn’t have fitted the local need.
“When we approached Dundee City Council, they asked us if the project could be developed to have a specific focus on people with addiction issues.
“We thought it was a brilliant thing to do so the project will be a residential recovery village specifically for people who want to overcome addiction.”
The location of the village is yet to be confirmed but a full planning application is expected to be submitted to Dundee City Council by the end of the year.
And all going to plan, it’s hope the project will be ready to open in early 2025.
Josh added: “Over the years Dundee has been at the centre of the drug deaths statistics in Scotland.
“Hopefully this can make Dundee world-leading in its response to the drugs crisis and we really believe it can be pioneering.
“Other cities can look upon it as an example of how to respond to this crisis.”
Conversation