Tell us your journey to founding a social enterprise
"I studied for my bachelor's degree in English Language and Literature in my home country of France. At the time, I was considering becoming a teacher and spent a year working as a French language assistant at a school in Edinburgh through a British Council programme.
"I loved my time in Edinburgh and wanted to stay in the city. I've always been passionate about books and reading, so in 2009 I joined Edinburgh Napier's
Publishing master's programme.
"To support myself during my studies, I worked full-time alongside my degree. Towards the end of the programme, an opportunity came up for a French speaker to join the Homeless World Cup – an organisation which uses football to support people experiencing homelessness, social exclusion and isolation. It was supposed to be a short-term role, but it turned into five and a half years and completely changed the direction of my career.
"Working there introduced me to events, international development and, most importantly, the impact that meaningful opportunities can have on people's lives. That's what set me on the path I'm still on today."
What is Invisible Cities?
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Invisible Cities is a social enterprise that trains people affected by homelessness to become tour guides in their own cities. We want to do tourism differently by challenging perceptions of homelessness and creating meaningful opportunities for people to share their experiences, knowledge and perspectives through unique walking tours.
"We work closely with homelessness organisations and community partners to identify people who might benefit from the programme, while also accepting self-referrals. Training covers everything from storytelling and customer service to public speaking and confidence building.
"Our guides then develop their own tours around themes they are passionate about, working alongside mentors and volunteers to research routes, refine stories and practise their delivery. By the time a tour launches, they have invested a huge amount of work into it. The result is something truly unique. Every tour reflects the interests, experiences and perspectives of the guide leading it.
"We've been featured in publications including the BBC, The Guardian, Vogue, National Geographic, Vanity Fair and Lonely Planet. I was delighted to be named a National Geographic Traveller of the Year in 2024, alongside receiving other travel industry awards, including the Arival Spotlight Award and the Tourism Innovation Award.
"We run tours in cities including Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, Liverpool, Cardiff and Belfast. Since launching 10 years ago, we've trained more than 150 guides and welcomed over 10,000 visitors on our tours."
What inspired the idea for Invisible Cities?
"The idea came from a combination of experiences. After recovering from bowel cancer in 2014, I started thinking seriously about what I wanted to do with my life. I knew I wanted to create something of my own.
"A year later, I volunteered in a refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesvos during the refugee crisis. I was deeply affected by the experience and by the stories people shared with me. Around the same time, I discovered a social enterprise in Athens, Greece running walking tours led by people with lived experience of homelessness. I loved the concept and began imagining how something similar could work in Edinburgh.
"When I returned to Scotland, I started working on what would become Invisible Cities. I did this part-time while working for Social Bite, the social enterprise that supports and employs people affected by homelessness, before joining Edinburgh's Social Enterprise Academy. Eventually, I took the leap and focused on Invisible Cities full-time."
Invisible Cities is celebrating its tenth anniversary. How does that milestone feel?
"When I launched Invisible Cities, I made a bold promise to myself: I'd bring tours to 10 cities in 10 years. As we celebrate a decade of work, I'm delighted that we've achieved that goal, with tours operating across all four nations of the UK.
"Ten years feels both like a very long time and no time at all. In the early years, we spent so much energy proving the concept could work. We had to convince people that tourism could build confidence, create opportunities and genuinely change lives.
"Now we're in a very different place. We no longer need to prove the concept. Instead, we're asking how much further we can take it and what more we can achieve. That's a really exciting position to be in.
"There have been some incredible moments along the way, from expanding into new cities to working with the Royal Foundation and welcoming Prince William on a private tour. Experiences like these have helped me realise that maybe I'm not an imposter after all."