Homelessness charity StreetSmart broke its own record on
Monday night when it announced that its 2011 campaign raised a total of £760,000. The record-breaking sum was celebrated by the charity’s supporters and trustees at a star-studded bash at London’s
Groucho Club.
Top marks went to Gordon Ramsay's Plane Food, at Heathrow, which raised more than £20,000 – the most ever
collected for StreetSmart by a participating restaurant. Selfridges, Fifth Floor at Harvey Nichols, Oxo Tower, Joe Allen, Bread Street Kitchen, Smiths of Smithfield, Bar Boulud, Nobu and Nopi
were also top ‘earners’ for the charity.
StreetSmart director Glenn Pougnet (pictured, centre, with StreetSmart chairman William Sieghart, far left, and StreetSmart's Jennifer Blouet, far right) said: ‘The total raised is truly
outstanding in these tough times, and couldn’t have been achieved without the hard work of the restaurateurs and hoteliers, and the generosity and goodwill of their customers.'
The charity, whose annual campaigns start each November, asks restaurant diners to pay an extra £1 on top of their bill as a donation to its cause. Hotel guests can also contribute via their bill.
More than 550 restaurants and hotels took part in StreetSmart’s 2011 campaign, with every penny of the money donated by customers invested in helping the homeless.
For more information on the StreetSmart 2012 campaign, visit streetsmart.org.uk.
This article was published on 26 April 2012.