£1 added to bills as StreetSmart partners with the Mayor's Homelessness Fund

StreetSmart, which has spent the last two decades raising money to provide support for the homeless, has launched its 2017 charity campaign, which will run between November 1 and December 31.

This year, to mark the nationwide charity’s twentieth anniversary, the scheme has partnered up with the Mayor's Homelessness Fund, along with a number of highly regarded Greater Manchester restaurants (see below), with the joint aim of giving the biggest Christmas gift yet to the region’s homeless charities.

Participating restaurants will add a £1 voluntary contribution to all their customers’ bills throughout November and December, no matter how big the party. The money raised is then collected in January and is distributed amongst Greater Manchester’s homeless charities.

Want to help? Visit one of these restaurants:

Eagle and Child, Ramsbottom; El Gato Negro; Elnecot; Grafene; Menagerie; Randall and Aubin; Salvi’s Cucina; Salvi’s Corn Exchange; Second Floor Restaurant,Harvey Nichols; Store Street Exchange; Tariff and Dale; The Allotment Vegan Restaurant, Stockport; The Rivals, The Royal Exchange; The River Restaurant, Lowry Hotel; The Refuge; Yuzu.

Andy Burnham Streetsmart
Mayor Andy Burnham (far right) launches this year's campaign

Last year, this money raised by Manchester diners helped contribute to various lifesaving projects by funding organisations including The Booth Centre, Barnubus and The Wellspring, who all work with the homeless community helping individuals break the cycle, regain their dignity and rebuild their lives via positive action. They also provide crisis and emergency shelter as well as food.

All the money raised by the StreetSmart campaign in 2017 will be donated to the Greater Manchester Mayors Homelessness Fund – working together with the region’s new Metropolitan Mayor, Andy Burnham, to support his pledge to end homelessness in Manchester. 

Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham said, “I’m so grateful to StreetSmart for joining up with us this year. All the money raised contribute to the Mayor’s Homelessness Fund, and will directly support our fight against rough sleeping and homelessness in Manchester. So we just encourage anyone that’s dining out this winter to give your support to ending homelessness.”

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Over a dozen restaurants are involved in this year's StreetSmart Charity campaign Jody Hartley

Director of StreetSmart, Glenn Pougenet added, “We’re delighted to be partnering with The Mayor’s Fund in Manchester. This way we’re all working towards the same vision, which is to end homelessness in Manchester. We’re incredibly grateful for the support of the restaurants who have signed up to StreetSmart this year – their participation directly impacts on the lives of the homeless in the city.  We’d be delighted to have even more join in so if you run a restaurant and would like to help the homeless this Christmas please get in touch!”

After carrying out in depth research on the impact of the campaign, StreetStmart estimate that 5439 people benefitted from over £16,000 raised last year, thanks to the money being passed on to various homelessness charities in the region.

This year, the StreetSmart campaign intends to smash this figure in 2017. All StreetSmart’s running and operational costs are covered by their sponsors, Deutsche Bank, so every penny raised goes directly to LOCAL homeless organisations. 

Full lists of participating restaurants and charities can be found at www.streetsmart.org.uk