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How many parents wave goodbye to their child on a Friday and Saturday evening as they go into Edinburgh City Centre to enjoy the many night time economy attractions and then worry about them all night until they hear the door open in the early hours?

I am sure many parents have experienced this over the years and unfortunately some have had a call from friends or emergency services saying their child had over consumed or come to some sort of harm. Most people who venture out on a weekend by and large have a trouble free night but where can you go if you feel vulnerable, get separated from friends or fall and injury yourself?

The Street Assist Edinburgh project was launched on 15 April 2016- Delivered by a group of 40 volunteers who are dedicated to supporting the citizens and tourists of Edinburgh and our emergency services during the busy times within the city’s night time economy. This new initiative is managed by a new Community Interest Company, Roadshow Solutions.

In times of austerity where public services are facing challenging times and our emergency services are pushed to the limit Street Assist knows from previous experience that we can help save Police time which allows them to focus on public safety, allows the Scottish Ambulance Service to respond to real emergencies, and reduce the number of people attending Accident and Emergency. A recent Social Return on Investment study revealed that for every £1 spent on a project like this saves the public purse £10 so the potential savings are quite significant.

Interventions like Street Assist and other services like Street Pastors contribute towards the city being a safer environment, and we ensure that individuals we help are free from harm, or risk of harm. We believe any new initiative like Street Assist will only enhance what is currently on offer.

Our new Street Triage Welfare Bus will be based on King’s Stables Road, EH1 2JY, between the Grassmarket and Lothian Road, from 8pm to 12am this weekend (Friday and Saturday) and from 8pm to 2am each weekend thereafter.

Street Assist Edinburgh is currently seeking funding and support from various agencies to allow us to develop our service further and would welcome support from anyone, either an individual or company who would like to help.

We are currently crowd fundraising to purchase a support vehicle which will allow us to be more responsive and increase the number of interventions we can make. Our crowd funding page is; http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/edinburgh-street-assist/ Any donations or offers of support would be greatly appreciated by everyone involved in this project.

For further information or enquiries about volunteering with Street Assist please contact Neil Logan, Director of Roadshow Solutions, on 07876 481989 or email neil@roadshowsolutions.org.