Josh Littlejohn is a Scottish social entrepreneur, Sunday Times best selling author and homeless campaigner who founded charities the Social Bite and the World’s Big Sleep Out.

Early life and education

Josh Littlejohn was born on 16 September 1986 in Edinburgh, United Kingdom. He has an honours degree in Politics and Economics from the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

Career

In August 2012 Littlejohn and Alice Thompson co-founded the Social Bite, a chain of cafes that provides employment and free food to homeless and vulnerable people. In 2018, Littlejohn built the Social Bite Village from reclaimed wasteland in Edinburgh to provide shelter and support for up to 20 homeless people at any one time. In December 2019, Littlejohn launched the World’s Big Sleep Out, which took place in 52 cities including London, New York, Delhi and Hong Kong. In 2016, he co-founded a social enterprise beer company called Brewgooder, where the profits go towards providing clean water. The brewery set out an aim of providing clean drinking water for one million people in five years. He has appeared on ''

The One Show ''The One Show'' is a British television magazine and chat show programme. Broadcast live on BBC One weekdays at 7:00 pm, it features topical stories and studio guests. It is currently co-hosted by Alex Jones, Roman Kemp, Ronan Keating ...

'' and ''

BBC Breakfast ''BBC Breakfast'' is a British television breakfast news programme, produced by BBC News and broadcast on BBC One every morning from 6:00am. It is also broadcast on the UK feed of BBC News channel on weekends. The simulcast is presented live, ...

''. Newspaper interviews include ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' and ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

''. In 2023 he published his first book ''Paying It Forward: How to Be a Social Entrepreneur''. The book debuted at number seven on the Sunday Times Best Seller chart.

Recognition

Littlejohn was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the

2017 New Year Honours The 2017 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours were awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

. He has received an honorary Doctor of Science in Social Science from the

and honorary doctorates from

Robert Gordon University Robert Gordon University, commonly called RGU (), is a public university in the city of Aberdeen, Scotland. It became a university in 1992, and originated from an educational institution founded in the 18th century by Robert Gordon (philanthrop ...

, and

Edinburgh Napier University Edinburgh Napier University () is a public university in Edinburgh, Scotland. Napier Technical College, the predecessor of the university, was founded in 1964, taking its name from 16th-century Scottish mathematician and philosopher John Napie ...

, He was included in the Debrett’s list of 500 most influential people in the UK 2017. Littlejohn collected the Pride of Britain Special Recognition award in 2019. In 2020, he won the

Robert Burns Humanitarian Award The Robert Burns Humanitarian Award is an award presented annually around the time of Robert Burns' birthday to a group or individual who has saved, improved or enriched the lives of others or society as a whole, through self-sacrifice, selfless ...

for helping helpless people. In 2023, his debut book 'Paying it Forward' became a Sunday Times' best seller, reaching number seven in the UK's best selling chart.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Littlejohn, Josh Living people 1986 births Philanthropists from Edinburgh Scottish activists Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Scottish philanthropists Members of the Order of the British Empire People associated with Robert Gordon University