A takeaway owner offering free pizzas has told of the “panic” at seeing large crowds gathering outside his shop and reportedly said it has been “very stressful”.
Marc Wilkinson, 55, who owns Pure Pizza in Edinburgh, is giving away the free food to customers at his shop during the month of January.
The kind hearted businessman says he has no regrets at making the offer to help the whole community but that it has cost three-times more than what he had expected.
He expected to be giving away 60 pizzas during the month but he has ended up with considerably greater demand at his shop in Morningside Drive.
And in order to continue the ambitious stunt, Marc has started a crowdfunding campaign to help provide the free pizzas to all of Edinburgh.
Marc is looking to raise £24,000 for his business, having thought initially that it would cost £12,000 to provide the free pizzas.
"At first it felt so exciting because everyone who was coming to the shop was saying what a great thing I was doing and it was a nice feeling, I felt like Santa," Marc told the BBC.
"But as the days went on a lot more people were turning up than I thought there would be. I started to panic at the thought of this happening for the whole month and that I would run out of funds. I was dreading the moment of having to decide to put a stop to it."
He said that when he started to receive donations he realised that was the way ahead.
"It has been very stressful but I'm still glad I did it and I don't want to stop it," he said. "My gift is out there in the psyche of Edinburgh and it seems a shame to cut it in its tracks."
Marc hopes the giveaway will encourage others to pass on the act of kindness in their own way.
On the fundraiser page, he wrote: "Hello! Please help us help as we are struggling to cope with demand. The BBC article on Monday 2nd January has gone viral. Our story was republished by half a dozen UK papers and also online worldwide.
"My name is Marc Wilkinson, and my shop Pure Pizza is offering everyone in Edinburgh a FREE PIZZA (with up to any 4 toppings) in January to help with the cost-of-living crisis and to maintain work for my team of chefs. It’s a win-win-win-win for all involved.
"Customers win, our chefs win, our suppliers win and the shop wins if some can afford to come back. It is kind of redistributing wealth from those who can afford to come back to those who cannot."
He continued: "My original plan was to average 60 FREE PIZZAS per day with the existing team. However, we are averaging treble this which means that we cannot shoulder this demand alone.
"Each FREE PIZZA costs around £3 for the ingredients and around £1 for the chef’s profit to make it.
"So, every £4 that you donate will mean one more FREE PIZZA for someone in Edinburgh. Our original budget was £12,000. However, we are on target to need treble. So, we need to raise £24,000 so that we can continue to offer everyone in Edinburgh a FREE PIZZA."
The independent business owner also said: "If this fundraising is successful, we can then also make the FREE PIZZA available for delivery to communities who are not able to come to the shop to collect.
"Edinburgh's five hospitals are all within our delivery area so I would love to be able to deliver pizzas to every hospital ward in Edinburgh to bring all the patients, nurses and doctors together.
"Community is just about all helping each other as best we can. Please donate just what you feel is appropriate or please share. Thanks in advance, Marc."
You can donate to the fundraiser here.
