It is a long way to travel for a bite to eat, but Hollywood star George Clooney will jet into Scotland on Thursday to visit an Edinburgh sandwich shop.
The Gravity actor has accepted an invitation to drop in on the not-for-profit café Social Bite. He will meet staff who were once homeless but now work in the chain of shops, which donates all its profits to charity.
Josh Littlejohn, co-founder of Social Bite, organised the actor’s visit. “The staff are unbelievably excited,” he said. “He’s one of the most famous people on the planet and we are looking forward to introducing him to the Social Bite concept.”
The café operates a “suspended” coffee and food programme, where customers can pay for a hot drink or food for a homeless person.
Last month, it launched what is thought to be the first “selfless” loyalty card, which lets customers feed the homeless. It works by saving up loyalty points to buy a homeless person a free meal and hot drink after 10 visits to the cafe.
“It’s incredibly exciting to be bringing one of the world’s biggest stars to Edinburgh,” Mr Littlejohn said. “For many of our team who until recently lived on the streets, this is a really amazing thing to look forward to.”
Mr Clooney will also get together with Glaswegian Heather McGowan, who won a competition to meet the A-lister at a private lunch event being held at a secret location later in the day. Ms McGowan, 32, said: “I’m a big George Clooney fan and love the Oceans films, so I’m absolutely delighted, and still a bit in shock.”
The actor and director will round off the day by speaking at the Scottish Business Awards, also organised by Mr Littlejohn.
Mr Clooney was last known to be in Scotland in 2005 when he presented Live 8 Edinburgh.
