Homelessness charity StreetSmart’s annual fundraising campaign kicks off this weekend, with more than 550 restaurants in London and the UK participating in the
scheme.
This year, new London restaurants that have pledged to donate £1 from every customer’s bill in November and December to the charity include Michelin-star winners Social Eating House, Angler and
Lima, plus Angela Hartnett’s Merchant’s Tavern and Gordon Ramsay’s Union Street Café. Last year’s highest contributor, Meatliquor – which raised a whopping £14,000 for StreetSmart last year – is also hoping to repeat its fundraising success
this time around.
In addition, long-standing supporters of the charity such as Oxo Tower Restaurant, St John and The River Café will be
taking up the cause once again. Click here for the full list of participating restaurants in London and 22 other UK
cities.
Each winter, on behalf of StreetSmart, participating restaurants ask diners to donate an optional £1 to the charity via their bill; the money goes towards local homelessness projects. Deutsche Bank
covers all of the campaign costs so that every penny donated goes straight to charity. Since launching in Soho in 1998, StreetSmart has raised a total of £6.3m.
Last year saw StreetSmart celebrate a record-breaking year, raising £805,000 – money that allowed the charity to support 103 homelessness projects this year, all local to the communities from which
the money was donated. These projects range from food banks and winter shelters to housing advice and employment training.
Chefs such as Jason Atherton (pictured) and Gordon Ramsay – whose restaurants have consistently been some of the top fundraisers
for the charity over the past 10 years – lent their praise to the campaign as it launched.
‘StreetSmart has become part of Christmas for us,’ said Ramsay. ‘It’s everyone’s chance to do the right thing at the right time with only the gentlest nudge.’
Square Meal is a proud supporter of StreetSmart. Watch our new video, based on A Christmas Carol!
This story was published on 1 November 2013.