Today, Wednesday 1st November marks the beginning of the 2017 StreetSmart campaign, with over 500 restaurants across the UK (300 in London) ready to participate in fundraising for homelessness charities through the simple gesture of adding a voluntary £1 to diners’ bills throughout the festive months of November and December.
This year also marks the twentieth anniversary of StreetSmart, having raised over £8.2 million since 1998. StreetSmart raised a staggering £587,000 in 2016 and in this anniversary year, look forward to building on this success.
Exciting restaurant newcomers to the campaign include Ikoyi, Luca, Oklava and Som Saa in London, El Gato Negro in Manchester and Issho in Leeds. Restaurants such as Quo Vadis, Spring, The Providores, The River Café and Polpo continue to pledge their support to the cause.
2017 couldn’t be a more crucial time to support the campaign: homelessness figures have continued to climb and the estimated number of rough sleepers on a single night in England is 4,134, marking an increase of 134% since 2010. During the same period, the number of families declaring themselves homeless increased by 48% to 59,090. Sam Clark and Sam Clark, chef owner of restaurants Moro and Morito, say: “Homelessness is more of an issue now than ever – that makes StreetSmart more relevant than ever.”
StreetSmart’s campaign invites diners in participating restaurants to add £1 their final bill. Every penny of every £1 raised in each restaurant is distributed by StreetSmart to local charities in cities across the UK. This means that if customers spend local, the money and subsequent support stays local, too.
The campaign doesn’t dip into any of the funds raised because its partner, Deutsche Bank, fund the administration element. This ensures that every pound given by diners remains whole and goes directly to help the homeless and vulnerable.
StreetSmart was set up in 1998 by two ethically-minded London business people, William Sieghart, Chairman of StreetSmart, founder of Forward Publishing and Mary-Lou Sturridge, Former Director of The Groucho Club, and Hotelier.