Edinburgh’s West End had never seen anything quite like this. Under its Regency domes and spires, all along its cobbled thoroughfares, the fashionable ladies were flushed and excited.
“Wilma, did he take your hand?” yelled one to another. “He did! He’s very warm!” came the response.
Such madness erupts when a bona fide, 24-carat film star appears, even in this, the most strait-laced of cities. George Clooney had come to Scotland’s capital and its women — and some of its men — were beside themselves.
The purpose of his visit was to endorse Social Bite, a brilliantly conceived sandwich shop for the homeless, which feeds, employs and empowers some of the most marginalised people in society. But this charitable intent was lost on many of those who massed wherever the merest whiff of gorgeous George’s pheromones was in the air.
On Rose Street, the mood quickly reached fever pitch as Clooney’s first public appearance came to an end. While bouncers attempted to guide him towards a car, the actor posed for selfies and joked about the weather with anyone who could make themselves heard.
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When Kirsten Pringle, 22, from Portobello, told him she had been waiting for three hours to meet him, he sagely observed, “You must be freezing”, before posing for a photo. A minute later he had disappeared, but the multitude was still sizzling with delight.
Six well-dressed city women had come out from Punter Southall pension administrators. “It’s the highlight of the working day,” shrieked one, in the general direction of Clooney’s departing Jaguar. How had they persuaded their boss that they should take time off? Her friend laughed: “I am the boss.”
Next stop was the office of the People’s Postcode Lottery, just a block along the street. A lady in an expensive leather coat, striding out as if towards Harvey Nicks, was favoured with a wave by the star as he swept past her in his car. She screamed and fell into the arms of her laughing friends.
So it went on. Other A-list celebrities, such as Rob Brydon, were in the actor’s entourage but he simply eclipsed them. Chris Evans, arriving for lunch at a George Street brasserie, was asked if he was looking forward to meeting Clooney. “Yes, but not as much as my wife, unfortunately,” he gamely replied.
The sap had started rising at dawn. Three hours before the great man’s arrival, passers-by approached the press photographers outside Social Bite’s shop to ask: “When is he coming?”
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The throng grew, and at just before 10am, with the arrival of the female staff from the Church of Scotland head offices, a sense of a visitation was complete.
“He’s a bit of a silver fox isn’t he?” said Caroline Morey, 33, from the church. “Aye, but he’s taken,” countered her friend, Liz Munro, 58. “So are both of you!” stressed Charlotte Quayle, 24.
The excitement made clear just how much of a coup this whole show was for Social Bite, a business dreamt up four years ago. It is a social enterprise that ploughs all its profit into charity, helping homeless people by providing jobs and free meals.
Josh Littlejohn, 29, its co-founder, was able to secure Clooney’s endorsement by proposing to share the proceeds of a fundraising campaign with the actor’s own charity, Not On Our Watch, which campaigns for human rights in Sudan. More than that, he was able to convince the film star to put his name to a new initiative to provide meals to the homeless.
“The important part,” yelled Clooney through the crowd, “is we want to participate in each other’s work.” In the calm of the cafe, Mr Littlejohn said: “We have a campaign coming up to encourage people to pay £5 to encourage people to buy a homeless person lunch, and George is going to be spearheading that.”
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Social Bite, with other outlets in Glasgow, Aberdeen and Dundee, might soon expand to London. Nick Candy, the property developer and husband of the actress Holly Valance, said he would help to establish the venture.
So Clooney had helped a good cause grow wings. Now all he had to do was get back to Hollywood in one piece. “Look out for this lot will you?” he asked a policemen keeping the ladies at bay outside a restaurant. “I’m telling you, they’re trouble.” The copper smiled. The ladies screamed.
Social Bite’s secret is to share its success
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Yesterday lunchtime, Heather McGowan, 32, sat down with George Clooney at Tiger Lily in Edinburgh, after paying £5 for a ticket in a raffle. It is just one of the clever wheezes that have raised thousands of pounds for Social Bite.
Last night’s Scottish Business Awards also helped. Companies paid £2,000 to £10,000 for one of 200 tables, and guests including Nicola Sturgeon heard an address by Clooney and took part in a charity auction.
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Lots included: starters and champagne with Clooney; a gold Omega watch, signed by the actor; lunch with Arnold Schwarzenegger; the chance to watch an exhibition match between Andy and Jamie Murray, have a tennis lesson with Judy, their mother, and dine at the family’s hotel; a round of golf with Bill Clinton; and the opportunity to cycle in the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome with the man himself.
Josh Littlejohn, Social Bite co-founder, explained how he persuaded the stars to sign up: “We split the proceeds with their charity. So tonight, someone will bid for the chance to meet David Beckham at Old Trafford. We’ll share the money with Unicef.”