A GLASGOW sandwich shop is offering a lifeline to the homeless.

The Social Bite in St ­Vincent Street has given jobs to two men and transformed their lives.

Sonny Murray and Billy McCondochie, both in their mid-30s, grew up in Glasgow.

Their lives progressed from care homes to prison and homeless units.

And their existence was dominated by drink, drugs and violence.

In an effort to break the cycle they turned to The Social Bite, set up by Josh Littlejohn and his partner and co-founder Alice Thompson.

The sandwich shop chain, which also has two branches in Edinburgh, not only turns profits over to charities, it's recruitment policy guarantees one in four staff are from the ranks of the homeless.

Sonny said: "I was homeless and actually turning up at The Social Bite at the end of the day because they give out unsold sandwiches free.

"I just loved the idea of the business, how it cares for people and so I asked Alice for a job.

"Clearly I represented a risk, because I was homeless and on a drug detox programme, but she gave me a chance, letting me hand out leaflets, washing dishes and then giving me the job preparing food at their central kitchen.

"And because I landed a full-time job I was able to get accommodation.

"My life has changed, thankfully, and thank God because I've got a girlfriend with a baby girl on the way in May. It means we can have a life together under one roof."

Sonny grew up in Pollok. His mother escaped an abusive relationship with her three children to a women's shelter in West Lothian.

Sonny and his brother were then taken into care.

He was fostered out for a couple of years while his brother remained in care. But the early years left their mark.

He fell in with the wrong crowd, took drugs, which led to shoplifting to feed the habit, subsequently prison, and the loss of his council house.

While sleeping rough last year he determined to turn his life around and has been drug-free for several months.

He said: "The Social Bite took a chance on me.

"Now, I want to progress with them. And now I'm preparing food and learning to cook at their central kitchen. I love it."

Billy McCondochie grew up in Penilee and at the age of 13 he was taken into care. When he was 16 he was slashed twice on the face in a random attack.

He became fearful, he turned to alcohol and drugs and found himself in prison for a long series of 'silly' offences.

Billy said: "The scarring changed me. I lost the plot. And I ended up spending my life sleeping on friends' couches.

"But then I heard about the Social Bite from Street Soccer, the (social inclusion) football programme run by former Rangers player Ally Dawson.

"Street Soccer encouraged me to go for a job with the new Social Bite in Glasgow. I did, and it's been fantastic for me. I work as a chef, having learned to cook in prison.

"And I love being part of something from the beginning, from helping clear plaster off the floor before the opening to making food."