For many Londoners, Christmastime means jolly shopping trips under twinkling lights, stopping for a hot chocolate or a mulled wine, then meeting friends at a restaurant for an end-of-year catch-up. But quietly, for the last 28 years, it’s also been a time where hundreds of restaurants have been raising money for a vital cause.
StreetSmart was founded in 1998, and its mission is simple: to raise money for charities tackling homelessness. It provides an easy yet powerful way for restaurants, pubs and hotels to make a difference: the venue simply adds £1 per table to diners’ bills during the campaign period of November and December. It’s free to sign up and costs the restaurant nothing – and last year, more than 600 restaurants got involved, ranging from long-standing institutions like The Wolesley and Selfridges to newer venues like Kudu, Lillibets and One Club Row. Together, the restaurants raised over £1 million in two months. This year, StreetSmart hopes to beat that number.
“The need is as great as ever,” Glenn Pougnet, director of StreetSmart, tells Broadsheet – which is a proud media partner of StreetSmart. “London has 13,000 rough sleepers and England has 177,000 children in temporary accommodation. Those numbers are unacceptable.”
StreetSmart operates in partnership with Land Aid, a property industry charity which entirely funds the costs of running the campaign. That means that 100 per cent of funds raised can go to charities across the UK, which apply to StreetSmart for funding. “We fund food and shelter projects during the winter months. Then, the majority of funds are used to provide supported accommodation, rehabilitation, counselling, education and training, and help with independent living,” Pougnet explains. “We narrow the applications down depending on who is providing the most personal care that we believe will bring about lasting results.”
While Pougnet acknowledges that, at the moment, many hospitality business “are busy just keeping afloat”, StreetSmart makes participating very straightforward. Restaurants need to tweak their systems and add a voluntary £1 to each bill for two months. They’re given little cards which are placed on tables, explaining the system to diners and that the donation is voluntary. StreetSmart has found that fewer than 1 per cent of customers decline to participate, and some request to add more than £1. Most restaurants find that this does not impact the usual level of tipping, and given that the £1 is added to the bill after service charge and VAT, this doesn’t affect the restaurant’s VAT returns.
So far, StreetSmart has signed up nearly 350 London restaurants this year, including Cafe Murano, Bancone, Acme Fire Cult, Legado, Canal, Quo Vadis and Spring. To sign up, restaurants should visit the StreetSmart website and fill in their details. Pougnet’s advice? “Make it part and parcel of your Christmas service – so many restaurants like St John, Barrafina and Ottolenghi have taken part for years and the feedback is so positive,” he says. “£1 doesn’t sound like a lot – a small restaurant may only raise £500 – but together we raise over £1 million and that makes a real difference.”
Restaurants can sign up to be part of this year’s StreetSmart campaign at the link below.
Broadsheet is a proud media partner of StreetSmart.
