Eat, Give and Be Merry

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Homeless charity StreetSmart launches their 2009 campaign in three local restaurants

During November and December diners visiting participating restaurants, will once again be asked to donate just £1 to their bill to go towards helping the homeless in the UK. In Putney there are three participating businesses; L'Auberge (Upper Richmond Road), The Phoenix (Lower Richmond Rd) and The Prince of Wales (Upper Richmond Road). A full list can be found here.

Following the impressive £435,000 raised in the 2008 campaign, this year StreetSmart, now in its 11th successful year expects around 600 restaurants nationwide to take part in its unique enterprise. Despite the recent economic downturn StreetSmart has seen an ongoing increase in finances raised, and this, coupled with recent economic research shows that diners in the UK are still more than willing to be generous when they know their money is being put to good use.

StreetSmart operates as an umbrella charity providing funding to 95 homelessness charities across 18 cities. Unlike other charities in the same bracket, the money raised by individual restaurants is reinvested directly into their respective city’s various homelessness charities. Diners can therefore be assured that the money they donate will have a direct benefit to charities in their home city, helping to shelter and feed the homeless during the cold winter months.

The chosen charities receive between £500 and £15,000, depending on the project to be funded. Once the winter emergency needs have been met, StreetSmart use any remaining funds to help projects that support people back to employment and sustainable independent living. Another unique aspect of the way in which StreetSmart operates is that unlike any other competitor charity, every single penny of the money raised goes directly towards helping the homeless, as all administration costs are covered by StreetSmart’s generous sponsor, Deutsche Bank.

High profile chefs including Gordon Ramsay, Fergus Henderson, John Torode and Giorgio Locatelli will once again support this years pioneering £1-per-table campaign.

November 10, 2009