Restaurants raise £17,000 for Hampshire homelessness charity through StreetSmart

13 Hampshire pubs, restaurants and hotels have raised £11,228 for local homelessness charity, the Society of St James, by participating in a two month StreetSmart campaign. This was topped up to £17,000 by government match funding.

StreetSmart is a national campaign which raises money for homelessness charities by asking restaurateurs to add a voluntary £1 donation to each table bill throughout November and December. In support of the 2012 campaign, the government then matched the funds raised in December, raising StreetSmart Hampshire’s total from £11,228 to £17,000.

Dee Russell

Dee Russell, Corporate and Community Fundraiser for the Society of St James brought the StreetSmart campaign to Hampshire to raise much needed funds to help homeless people in the county. Dee said:

“The success of the 2012 campaign in our county was unprecedented. The commitment shown by Hampshire’s restaurateurs, waiting staff and guests is behind the tremendous success of the StreetSmart campaign. Just £30 pays for a homeless person to have a night’s stay and three meals in a hostel, so it’s easy to see how a £1 donation at the end of a meal out can go a long way at the Society of St James.” Dee added: “Economically, the cuts to funding for our services are meaning that we are coming to rely more heavily on corporate and community involvement to continue to support vulnerable people back into community life.”

Participating StreetSmart Hampshire restaurants, pubs and hotels included The Chesil Rectory, Lainston House and The Old Vine in Winchester; The Purefoy Arms in Preston Candover; The Bakers Arms in Droxford; Lime Wood Hotel, Terra Vina and Chewton Glen in the New Forest; The Three Tuns in Romsey; The Plough Inn at Longparish; Greens in Wickham; Four Seasons Hampshire near Hook and The Chestnut Horse at Easton.

The Chesil Rectory

Thank You

Without the support of Hampshire based Restaurants, Pubs, and Hotels, not one penny of this funding would be available to us.

You have invested in a bigger picture. Your investment has a huge impact in reaching out to people who need support in transforming their lives.
That one word, “Yes” when you were invited to join the campaign, that one little word makes this work possible.

We wish to extend our thanks beyond our participating venues, to the wider community by thanking StreetSmart diners. Again, that simple “£1” at the end of your meal, almost insignificant in itself, joins the 16,999 other £1s to enable real change to happen right on your doorstep.

Restaurants, pubs and hotels keen to sign up to the 2013 StreetSmart Hampshire campaign, or find out more about getting involved, should contact Dee Russell on dee.russell@ssj.org.uk or 023 8063 2524. Find out more about how the Society of St James supports homeless and vulnerable people to transform their lives at www.ssj.org.uk. www.streetsmart.org.uk

Launching StreetSmart Hampshire

The StreetSmart Campaign is not a new initiative. It has been running successfully in London for the last 14 years and has raised £4,700,000 for linked homeless charities in that time.

The secret of its success lies in its simplicity. Restaurateurs add a voluntary £1 to each table’s bill throughout November and December. The money raised is then sent to StreetSmart in January for distribution to their partnering homelessness charities.
Owing to the generous sponsorship of Deutsche Bank, every penny in every £1 reaches the people who need it most in your area.

The Campaign, with success of this magnitude, has branched out of the London area across the UK and this year, The Society of St James are pleased to launch StreetSmart Hampshire.  The Society of St James are a perfect fit for StreetSmart as we work beyond putting a roof over people’s heads, supporting them with the issues that led to their homelessness in the first instance. With services across the county, we’re ideally placed to receive and distribute the funds raised in our area to the services where need is greatest.

It’s not too late for your restaurant to participate in the 2011 Campaign. Simply go to StreetSmart, hit the ‘Sign Up’ button and fill in the form. Or call the regional organiser for Hampshire, Dee Russell, 023 8063 2524. You will then receive table cards that explain to your customers that you are running the scheme, and a simple set of instructions to help ensure success.

In 2011 the Society of St James made a calculated decission to employ a new corporate and community fundraiser – Dee -  to expand our fundraising capacity. One of the first projects Dee instigated was the StreetSmart Campaign.

StreetSmart is a restaurant campaign that raises funds for homeless charities by simply adding a voluntary £1 to every table bill throughout the two months of November and December.

The Campaign had been running successfully in London for 14 years and had gradually been creeping outside of the city when the Society of St James requested support to bring it to Hampshire. With top restaurateurs like Gordon Ramsay, Fergus Henderson and Marcus Wareing backing the campaign, we knew that the county of Hampshire, famed for local produce and quality eating establishments, was a good fit.
Glenn Pougnet, director at StreetSmart, was only too pleased to facilitate this leap into a new county and in its debut in Hampshire, StreetSmart raised a tidy £5000 for the Society.

On the back of this success Dee has been short listed for the Wessex Charity Award for best fundraising project 2011. The winner of which will be announced later in the year at a Gala Dinner and Awards Ceremony. Good luck Dee.

Preparations are already well underway for the 2012 StreetSmart Campaign in Hampshire with four restaurants having already committed to participating before the press have even published the first recruitment article. Media partner, Hampshire Life were very quick to offer their weight to the campaign for its second year which the Society of St James are anticipating will help to raise the profile. Additionally, SSJ are working closely with food PR professional, Sophie Boxall, to maximise the restaurant participation and raise awareness.

Did you see table cards in a StreetSmart restaurant in 2011?
Had you seen the Campaign in action before, in London, Brighton, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Leeds?
Let us know your thoughts on StreetSmart, and of course, recommend the campaign to your favourite, local restaurant/pub/hotel!