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Tin can Ark to get homeless cafe afloat



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Published Date: 06 March 2008
By GEMMA FRASER
A SCULPTURE of Noah's Ark made out of 600 cans of food is to be created in the city centre to raise money for a homeless cafe.
Artist Rachel Adams from the National Galleries of Scotland will build the "masterpiece" tomorrow, using tins of food including soup, beans, tuna and tomatoes.

The project is designed to raise awareness and funds for the Ark Trust, which was force
d to close its Old Town cafe last June after its funding was withdrawn.

The Trust has launched a £300,000 fundraising campaign to get the service up and running again.

However, the charity wants the Ark to be more than just a "soup kitchen" when it reopens, and plans to turn it into a social enterprise, providing employment as well as food and shelter.

Tam Hendry, chief executive of leading homeless charity Streetwork UK, and acting chief executive of the Ark, hopes "rebuilding" the ark beside East Princes Street Gardens will attract a lot of interest – and money – from passers-by.

He said: "It will look quite odd, so I hope it will get a fair bit of attention and get the ball rolling in terms of trying to raise the £300,000 target to reopen the cafe.

"The notion of a soup kitchen is very old-fashioned. What we need to create is a social enterprise to create employment."

The two-metre-long food tin sculpture will be made up of cans of food donated to the Ark cafe while it was up and running, and will remain in place until late tomorrow afternoon.

After that, it will be taken apart, with the hundreds of cans being handed out to homeless people.

Miss Adams, who works in the community outreach department of the National Galleries of Scotland, has been working with homeless charities for the past two years.

The 29-year-old said: "The idea came from Streetwork when they made a comment about how many cans they had sitting around and we thought it would make a great fundraising opportunity.

"Princes Street is so busy on a Friday so we are hoping to get as many people as possible to come along and look at it.

"I have made little labels to go on the cans with a space for people who donate money to write a message or put their name on if they want to show they have contributed.

"The labels will be coloured red on the hull and yellow on the cabin to help unify the shape of the boat and make it visible from Princes Street."

Volunteers from Streetwork and the Ark Trust will be on hand throughout the day to provide information on the charity and collect donations from the public.

• The Ark Trust website
• National Galleries website





The full article contains 472 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 06 March 2008 11:22 AM
  • Source: Edinburgh Evening News
  • Location: Edinburgh
  • Related Topics: Homelessness
 
1

mad moo,

edinburgh 06/03/2008 12:49:48
"The two-metre-long food tin sculpture will be made up of cans of food donated to the Ark cafe while it was up and running, and will remain in place until late tomorrow afternoon.

After that, it will be taken apart, with the hundreds of cans being handed out to homeless people."

As most of the cans are out of date this may cause mass food poisoning!
How/where are 'homeless' to open and heat the food in these cans?

Why are Mountgrange installing central heating in the old Ark building if the plan is to demolish it?

Now Tam Hendrey of Streetwork is acting chief executive of The Ark Trust the Ark building is now to be the new offices for Streetwork (who already own a building on South Bridge).
If Streetwork want to raise cash to reopen an Ark facility for the homeless why dont they sell their building instead of helping to sell off the Ark Trust's own building on New St to Mountgrange who will allow Streetwork to have the building?
2

Palermo,

06/03/2008 13:29:58
Just say noah
3

Autolycus,

06/03/2008 14:49:59
Mad moo - you've got it the wrong way round. Flash Tam swooping in to "rescue" the Ark means that the bung Mountgrange will give to make sure the new replacement Ark is nowhere near their beautiful new development can go into his money pit on the Bridges.

The Ark and Streetwork alliance sounds like a marriage of convenience to me - both charities have been cutting services recently. I pity the poor homeless folk - no-one to help them and food poisoning from minging tins.

Good luck getting the Ark afloat though. Edinburgh needs a safe drop-in for homeless people
4

mad moo,

edinburgh 06/03/2008 14:57:07
The Ark was built in 1930's as a purpose built community resturant for use by the whole community providing a social hub for the people of the Canongate.
It is written into the deeds that it was not to move from the area hence Mountgrange offering to provide 'alternative space' on Calton Road.
Now it has been taken over by streetwork who want to turn it into a social enterprise!
It always was a social enterprise but had charitable status.
Toaday the signs were changed on the door and the Ark is no more it is now Streetwork.
This seems to solve the problem that streetwork have had for years - no drop-in or cafe facilities.
Easy just take over someone elses.
They are advertising to run a drop in from South Bridge but have no permission to do so. They made a plea to set up a cafe/social enterprise at Hunter Square/Tron Church which resulted in the loss of the only public toilets in the Old town and the closure of the Old Town Tourist Information Centre, but couldnt secure cash to do it.
RIP the Ark you now belong to Streetwork.
5

Autolycus,

06/03/2008 15:09:29
I wouldn't expect Streetwork to come up with drop-in facilities any time soon. They're bleeding staff like Leona Lewis is bleeding love- and permission or otherwise the South Bridge property won't be health and safety compliant until a world of cash is spent on making the building fit for purpose (and that means any purpose.It's been empty since Whatties left it. Must be in move-in condition.)
They might now have the facilities but soon they won't have any one to work there. The Ark will just be a holding pen until Flash Tam comes up with his next half-planned scheme.
6

Pavlov Dog,

06/03/2008 16:16:49
Mad moo and Autolycus, sounds like you've got a bitter wee agenda. I take it you've both made a sizeable contribution of your own to society or do you just have a wee pop when you feel like it? Streetwork are sound as a pound and their staff are brilliant. getting together wi the Ark is a great idea and I wish them all the very best.
7

mad moo,

edinburgh 06/03/2008 16:45:47
Many of us who support the Ark are not in a position to make a 'sizable contribution' although we have given our time and effort to support it, and more importantly to support the users of the Ark's facilities.
Flash Tam is a poor soul who thought he could make a clever deal with Mountgrange but is a little deluded and his 'streetwork is great' approach has only served to turn off many of the Ark's workers and support.
Since Streetwork took over the staffing problems have got more severe and other services run by the Ark, like Space 44 the womens project, have been reduced or closed.
The Streetwork save the ark campaign has been focused on selling 'meal tickets' for £3.50 (the money goes straight to Streetwork) yet no meals are provided to the homeless.
The Ark had for years sold breakfast vouchers (50p) from many church and community places which could be handed to homeless people who could exchange them for a cooked breakfast at the Ark's drop in on New Street.
This allowed people who wanted to help the homeless, but were concerned giving cash to them would be spent on drink or drugs, to provide practical support. Those who used the Ark benefited by having cheep hot food, laundry facilities, clean clothes and blankets, access to support advice, councilling services and training for work (through volunteering in the cafe).
8

mad moo,

edinburgh 06/03/2008 16:52:11
Edinburgh needs a good service to support homeless people and help them move on to secure accommodation. No other organisation provides the open door support that the Ark did.
The closure was shameful and clearly based on the need to clear the site for a big hotel/£300million development which the council have a huge financial interest in.
It had nothing to do with the 'quality' of service being provided.
9

Pavlov Dog,

06/03/2008 17:33:59
Don't blame Streetwork then Mad Moo. Having a pop at another charity who are at least trying to restore the Ark isn't on and blaming them for toilet closures, the Tron Information Centre, world poverty, the plague is bang out of order.
10

KarlM,

06/03/2008 18:49:19
mad moo you are full of opinion and no idea of the facts

With regard to the Ark:

"It is written into the deeds that it was not to move from the area hence Mountgrange offering to provide 'alternative space' on Calton Road."

wrong. there's nothing of the kind in the deeds. There's not even a set of deeds.

"Now it has been taken over by streetwork who want to turn it into a social enterprise! It always was a social enterprise but had charitable status."

wrong on both counts. The Ark has never been an enterprise and has never sold any services or products. Neither has it ever had an employment scheme for homeless people. The Ark has only had charitable status for a few months when it became The Old Sailors' Ark Ltd, up to then it was a bequest with a Factor.

"Toaday the signs were changed on the door and the Ark is no more it is now Streetwork."

wrong. The Old Sailors' Ark still exists in its own right thanks to Streetwork, they're just moving in together, which is a good thing.

"This seems to solve the problem that streetwork have had for years - no drop-in or cafe facilities."

wrong. Streetwork have had a drop-in for going on 8 years or so. They're a street based organisation, why would they worry about not having a cafe?

"Easy just take over someone elses."

do you really think people just roll up to the Ark door and go "we'll take over thanks" Give the Ark board and the Streetwork board some credit, they're not morons.

"They are advertising to run a drop in from South Bridge but have no permission to do so."

wrong. where's the adverts? They've bought a shop. So what. Like most charities they're not rich and can't plough ££££ into a place like Greggs or Subway can. Give them a break. They're not plannin to run a drop-in there either. Where do you get you half-baked theories from?

"They made a plea to set up a cafe/social enterprise at Hunter Square/Tron Church which resulted in the loss of the only public toilets in the Ol
11

Buttress,

06/03/2008 21:20:41
The old Sailor's Ark (listed at Grade C I believe) is about to become a facade retention scheme for the Mountgrange shiny new five star Sofitel Hotel though surely?

www.eh8.org.uk





12

Ghost Of Scotland Past,

06/03/2008 21:44:14
I wasn't aware that anyone knew what Noahs ark looked like especially since it probably never existed.
In spite of that it's not a bad idea.
13

The Fly Fifer,

Fife 06/03/2008 22:24:28
#12 the ark is described in detail in the best book ever written ........
14

Ghost Of Scotland Past,

06/03/2008 23:01:45
13) Yeh Right
15

mad moo,

edinburgh 08/03/2008 12:15:57
#10
The adverts say
"Now, the
plan is that this June The Old Sailor's Ark will reopen alongside a
coffee shop on South Bridge, the coffee shop then acting as a sustainable
source of income which will support both establishments whilst also
training the homeless people who come off the streets to work in the cafe"

see for yourself at
http://www.theforest.org.uk/bb/viewtopic.php?p=19181&sid=b846589d423740bc3aa2073e1533f61f



 

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