As we look towards winter and Christmas, Streetsmart are set to launch their 2018 campaign, marking their 21st year of fundraising across the UK. StreetSmart works with restaurants across the UK to raise money for vulnerable and homeless members of their local community during the months of November and December.
Through the simple idea of adding a voluntary £1 to diners’ bills during the festive months, the charity has raised over £8.8 million since its foundation for charities, hostels and projects that help those living on the streets and in unsuitable accommodation.
Over 500 restaurants across the UK are lined up to participate in this year’s campaign, with more still to be announced following today’s launch. Restaurants such as The River Café, China Tang at The Dorchester and Barrafina continue to pledge their support to the cause, while Cora Pearl, Claridges, Rovi and Hero of Maida are among those who have signed up this year.
Last year’s 20th anniversary campaign saw StreetSmart raise their highest ever amount of £662,000 from diners, with all donations being distributed to local charities and initiatives, targeting areas such as food redistribution and prevention of youth homelessness. Every penny of every £1 stays local to where it’s raised.
The issue of homelessness is as acute as ever as new figures released this week show a 17% increase in the number of people sleeping rough in London compared to last year with a total of 3,103 people recorded as sleeping on the streets in the capital during July through September*.
So the funds generated by StreetSmart will be needed this winter more than ever and thanks to its partnership with Deutsche Bank, who fund the administration element, 100% of StreetSmart’s donations are passed on to local projects.
“Anything we can do to alleviate the pain of homelessness, especially at this time of year, is worthwhile. With StreetSmart it is so easy and 100% of the money raised goes direct to people most in need.” Monica Galetti.
This year also saw the introduction of the StreetSmart Top 100 Awards, which recognises the restaurants across the UK that have been top supporters of the fundraising efforts over the charity’s 20 years. Recipients included MEATliquor (London), Chiltern Firehouse (London), The Square at Porthleven (Cornwall) and The Kitchin (Edinburgh).
StreetSmart was set up in 1998 by William Sieghart founder of Forward Publishing and Mary-Lou Sturridge, Former Director of The Groucho Club, and Hotelier.