The Edinburgh Festivals are at the heart of the city’s economy, but who’s getting left behind? - Ewan Aitken

Best of all, I was paid to shout! I was a “queue barker” which meant, in those pre-internet days – yes it was that long ago - my job was to walk up and down the box office queues shouting out information about tickets and shows.

Performers would do excerpts from their shows to the queue, and I was often dragged in to take part.

One of my claims to fame is that I once performed with a very young then Eddie (now Suzy) Izzard. She won’t remember me, but I did once perform (at her instruction) with one of the funniest comedians ever!

The Fringe and the other Edinburgh Festivals which make up the biggest arts festival in the world bring something very special to our city and offer some great opportunities.

It’s launched many a career in the arts – this year, my daughter is in two shows and my nephew in another!

But it has its challenges. Another “Fringe memory” is from my days as a city councillor. A woman came to my surgery and demanded angrily “you say the festival brings loads of jobs – well, where's mine?”

Festival jobs weren’t going to meet her needs; this was before the national minimum wage and she couldn’t have survived on what she would have been paid. The rising cost of living means that many still find this to be the case.

Even more challenging is the impact that the rapid growth of the festivals over recent decades has had on our housing market in Edinburgh.

It is by no means the only reason for the terrifying housing crisis we have right now - the Right to Buy legislation was the biggest error of political judgement in the history of British democracy.

But the festivals at present exacerbate the problem. They're one of the reasons why 12,000 houses in Edinburgh are available for holiday lets, while 5300 people stay in temporary accommodation. The maths says something’s wrong here.

We are facing a housing crisis in Edinburgh. We need huge amounts of new social housing and that means the Scottish Government coughing up the cash to fund it - the council cannot do it on their own.

Their recent announcement of money to buy houses and convert other buildings into housing is welcome but it’s a drop in the ocean for what we need.

Without affordable holiday accommodation the tourist trade, which is a core part of our city’s economy, will falter. But without new, affordable houses, people don’t have the stability or means to take up the jobs that are available, including those that the festivals do offer – so our economy will lose its way.

This is a complex issue with competing demands from different parts of what makes our city so vibrant.

We need everyone around the table to find ways forward which meet everyone’s needs, especially for those trapped in temporary accommodation with little hope of a settled home, far less a ticket to a Festival show.

Ewan Aitken,CEO Cyrenians Scotland