How an Edinburgh walking tour helps the homeless
I’m standing next to the 17th-century landmark West Bow Well near one of Edinburgh’s most notorious streets, Grassmarket in the city’s Old Town, when my tour guide, Dakota Jones, blurts out: “This is definitely not a Harry Potter tour.”
Edinburgh, where J.K. Rowling reportedly found inspiration for the fictional teen wizard, has a troubled past with witchcraft and those who renounced prevailing religious norms.
West Bow Well in Edinburgh’s historic Old Town.Credit: iStock
As Jones, who identifies as non-binary, describes Grassmarket’s dark past as a site of executions, the vibe is broomsticks-apart from the joy of fans following in the footsteps of Harry Potter. But the grim stories provide great material for Jones because divulging Edinburgh’s wicked past has become their lifeline.
I’m on a walking tour run by Invisible Cities, a social enterprise that aims to show cities in a new light and also be a light for the disadvantaged. The organisation trains people affected by homelessness to become walking tour guides, leading visitors through the streets where they once slept. It was founded in Edinburgh in 2016 by Invisible Cities chief executive Zakia Moulaoui and has expanded across five other British cities.
An Invisible Cities tour guide leads a group through the streets of Edinbugh.Credit:
“Our training program includes public speaking, confidence building, customer service, body language and first aid,” Moulaoui says.
She says the training process involves each guide developing their own tour. “We really encourage people to have their voices heard and to decide what they want to highlight, and sometimes that has a powerful message around it. But sometimes, it’s just purely historical because they don’t want to share personal details, it’s entirely up to them.”
Walking tour participants are regaled with quirky stories about the Scottish city.Credit:
It’s easy to see how Invisible Cities has thrived in Scotland. Storytelling is embedded in Scottish culture and the country prides itself on sharing folklore and championing its poets and writers.
