Social Bite Christmas campaign gets more than 27,000 donations

Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio at Social Bite restaurant, Home in Edinburgh

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A cafe chain backed by George Clooney has received more than 27,000 donations in one day to its campaign to ensure a homeless person gets a hot meal at Christmas.

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Social Bite has teamed up with itison.com again to run the fundraiser, which invites people to donate £5 which will buy a homeless person Christmas dinner at its cafes in Glasgow, Edinburgh or Aberdeen.

The chain said that by donating £5 supporters will not only provide a helping of festive food, they will also give the less fortunate a warm and friendly place to spend Christmas.

Since launching on Tuesday December 13, the campaign has received more than 27,000 donations.

Josh Littlejohn, co-founder of Social Bite, said: “We’ve been teaming up with itison for the last couple of years and the public have always given us incredible support.

“With more than 20,000 donations made already, we’re seeing an astonishing level of generosity and kindness.”

Last year Social Bite gave more than 72,000 meals to the homeless, not just on Christmas Day but throughout the entire year.

One in four of Social Bite’s workforce are from homeless backgrounds.

The chain offers “suspended coffee and food”, which means customers can pay in advance for a coffee or any item of food from the menu and a local homeless person can go into the shop to claim it.

The organisation has received backing from various high-profile figures.

George Clooney visited Social Bite’s Rose Street shop in Edinburgh in November last year while Leonardo di Caprio visited its sister restaurant Home in the Scottish capital last month.

Christmas dinner for homeless people will be available at St Vincent Street in Glasgow from 12pm to 3pm on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and at Rose Street in Edinburgh from 10am to 12.30pm on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Home in Edinburgh will serve the meal from 1pm to 3pm on Christmas Day while Union Street, Aberdeen, will offer it on Christmas Eve.

Social Bite is also asking for help to fund the Social Bite Village, which will see a mini-village being built in Edinburgh to provide accommodation, counselling, education, support and a job to help get homeless people back on their feet.