I talk to... JOSIAH

age: 25
type of visitor: regular
eating: muffin
drinking: filter coffee

I often see Josiah writing in the Elephant House, and he has the same rather classy looking netbook as me, and he has a beard...

Surely Elephant House + netbook + beard = writer? But when I talk to him, I find out he's doing something much more useful. He's a key player in The Grassmarket Community Project (also called The Grassmarket Mission), which is a wonderful charity dedicated to getting alongside people who are poor, marginalised, excluded, homeless, or struggling with addiction or mental illness. The ethos is based around trying to build community by finding ways of blurring the lines between the ‘marginalised’ and those who overlook them. There are all kinds of activities - cooking, art, woodwork, gardening, drop-in centre - run by members of the community, and all kinds of alliances with other socially proactive groups. It's a big deal: in total Josiah is helping to facilitate 200+ volunteers in Edinburgh in the provision of support and opportunities for numerous people who are looking to address the issues that are holding them back.

Josiah's always looking for more volunteers, and in one way or another the charity is involved in dozens of fantastic projects within a minute or two's walk from the Elephant House, so explore their websites here and here if you think you might like to get involved...