A StreetSmart Christmas Carol

Homelessness charity StreetSmart’s annual fundraising campaign is in full swing, with more than 550 restaurants in London and the UK participating in the scheme.

This year, new London restaurants that have pledged to donate £1 from every customer’s bill in November and December to the charity include Michelin-star winners Jason Atherton's Social Eating House, Angler and Lima, plus Angela Hartnett’s Merchant’s Tavern, Francesco Mazzei's L'Anima and Gordon Ramsay’s Union Street Café.

In addition, long-standing supporters of the charity such as Andrew Edmunds, Oxo Tower Restaurant, St John and The River Café are taking up the cause once again. Click here for the full list of participating restaurants in London and 22 other UK cities.

Each winter, on behalf of StreetSmart, participating restaurants ask diners to donate an optional £1 to the charity via their bill; the money goes towards local homelessness projects. Deutsche Bank covers all of the campaign costs so that every penny donated goes straight to charity. Since launching in Soho in 1998, StreetSmart has raised a total of £6.3m.

Last year saw StreetSmart celebrate a record-breaking year, raising £805,000 – money that allowed the charity to support 103 homelessness projects this year, all local to the communities from which the money was donated. These projects range from food banks and winter shelters to housing advice and employment training.

‘StreetSmart has become part of Christmas for us,’ said Ramsay. ‘It’s everyone’s chance to do the right thing at the right time with only the gentlest nudge.’

Watch A StreetSmart Christmas Carol here