Co-Founder of Social Bite, Brewgooder & The Big Sleepout & Sunday Times Bestselling Author of ‘Paying It Forward’

Josh Littlejohn  is one of the world’s leading social entrepreneurs and a Sunday Times best-selling author.  He is known for founding Social Bite, a pioneering social enterprises that led a global movement to tackle homelessness and displacement.

Josh is also the co-founder of Brewgooder. This is a social enterprise brewery that sells beer and donates proceeds to fund clean water projects in Africa.

In 2023, Josh published his debut book entitled Paying It Forward: How to Be A Social Entrepreneur. The book debuted at number 7 on the Sunday Times Best Sellers chart.

Josh began his career as a social entrepreneur when he co-founded Social Bite, a social enterprise with a mission to eradicate homelessness in the country. Social Bite started as a small chain of sandwich shops that began offering jobs and free food to homeless people. The cafes shot to global fame when Hollywood A-lister George Clooney visited an outlet in Edinburgh in 2015.

Another Oscar winner Leonardo DiCaprio then visited the social enterprise in 2016. Social Bite now employs over 75 people, many from a background of homelessness. They give out over 200,000 items of food each year to homeless and vulnerable people through a network of cafes across the UK.

In May 2018, Josh and his team launched an innovative accommodation project for homeless people in Edinburgh called the  Social Bite Village. The first residents moved in later that same year. The Village comprises of 11 prefabricated, two bedroom wooden houses with gardens and also a community hub, built on vacant land.

The project offers a home to vulnerable homeless people for between 12 and 18months, during which time they are provided with extensive support in a community environment. Residents learn new skills and also get their life back on track. This project combined with a nationwide ‘Housing First’ project that Social Bite created in partnership with the Scottish Government has resulted in over 1000 homeless people being housed in Scotland.

In May 2019, alongside Will Smith and Dame Helen Mirren, Josh launched a global campaign: “The World’s Big Sleepout”. The campaign staged ‘sleep out’ fundraising events in over 52 cities throughout the world. Cities included Times Square, New York and Trafalgar Square, London. 60,000 people slept out in unison in the world’s largest display of solidarity for homeless and displaced people. They also raised funds for charities all over the world.

Josh has received an MBE from the Queen, which he dedicated to the homeless and marginalized. He has received a Pride of Britain Award, a Robert Burns Humanitarian Award and also 5 honorary doctorates.

Josh Littlejohn MBE was included in the Debrett’s list of 500 most influential people in the UK.

2022 saw the opening of London’s first Social Bite Cafe on The Strand.

A number of celebrities attended the launch. These included Chris Evans, Kate Garraway and Line of Duty’s Steve Arnott, played by Scottish actor Martin Compston.

Josh Littlejohn MBE: Inspirational keynote speaker. Now available for public speaking engagements in the UK and globally.

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