Cailean Acamovic,, 13, busked with his bagpipe on the cold streets of Edinburgh to raise money for the city’s homeless community.
A kind-hearted teenager has donated the money he earned from busking on the streets of Edinburgh to feed the homeless at Christmas.
Cailean Acamovic, 13, from Prestonpans, East Lothian, raised money to provide 16 Christmas dinners for the homeless community after being left devastated by the conditions they face when sleeping rough.
The young busker said he received great support from Christmas punters in town. He plans on making an annual donation to Social Bite to support their homeless Christmas meal appeal going forward.
Cailean, who plays for Preston Lodge High School Pipe Band and the National Youth Pipe Band of Scotland, told Edinburgh Live: “I regularly busk in Edinburgh and often donate if I see any homeless people on the street.
“But at this time of year it’s so cold that nobody should be on the streets in this weather or go without a hot meal, especially on Christmas day.
“I saw a post on Facebook last week for Social Bite and decided to go busking for an hour to raise as much as I could to provide a homeless person with a hot meal on Christmas day. I was able to raise £82.14 which bought 16 Christmas dinners.”
Cailean added: “Everybody deserves to have a warm meal all year round, but especially at Christmas time. It’s supposed to be a special time spent with family but a lot of these people won’t have that and it upsets me to see this in 2025. I’m going to make it a regular thing that I do going forward.”
The talented musician travels to the capital regularly to perform but says it’s not always an easy environment to perform in.
He went on: “The most challenging part of being a young piper is finding a good location and keeping myself warm at this time of year so I can play well.
“It’s really challenging to play the pipes when it’s so cold, and I can’t imagine what it would be like to live 24/7 outside in the city at this time of year.
“I am fortunate to have amazing opportunities as a piper to perform all over the country and most recently the Apeldoorn tattoo in Holland and at many other prestigious venues.
“I love entertaining people and bringing some happiness through music. I regularly play at care homes which brightens up the residents’ day. I’ve had a great first year competing in the solo circuit and can’t wait for 2026.”
Social Bite wrote to Cailean to thank him for his contribution. The teen also thanked his Facebook followers who donated directly to Social Bite after he shared a link to the charity on his business page.
You can visit Cailean’s page here. You can visit Social Bite’s website here.
