Itison launch annual Social Bite Christmas dinner campaign

The itison campaign for Social Bite launches on 10 December and hopes to feed thousands of homeless people this Christmas.

The team are asking for £5 donations to be made online to buy Christmas dinner for a homeless person or a Christmas gift for families and individuals hard-hit by the Covid-19 crisis.

The global pandemic means thousands of families and homeless people continue to fall through the gaps of support and are struggling.

The itison £5 fundraiser will ensure that homeless people, individuals and families can enjoy a hot meal and a gift this Christmas.

The annual Christmas fundraiser has been running since 2014 and has raised over £2.6 million and 500,000 donations to those who need it most.

The most recent itison fundraiser took place this summer, and saw over 15,000 meals delivered to the homeless, elderly and most vulnerable in society during the pandemic.

Oli Norman, CEO at itison said: “Every year we’re blown away by the generosity of our members. Tomorrow, we need your help more than ever.

“No one has been harder hit by the global pandemic than the most vulnerable in our society.

“By donating £5 you’ll be making sure vulnerable families and homeless people have somewhere to go and a present to open this Christmas after what’s been an incredibly hard year.”

Josh Littlejohn, co-founder of Social Bite added: “In 2014 we started working with itison on our annual fundraiser, with a target of 800 Christmas dinners.

“We ended up receiving over 32,000 donations meaning we could feed homeless people for the whole year. Our annual itison fundraiser continues to exceed our expectations every year and has dramatically shaped the work we can do at Social Bite.

“We couldn’t do it without you, so this year especially, we’d love you to get behind the campaign, share it with all your friends and help the people who need it the very most this year.”

In Scotland, Social Bite’s Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen cafes will open their doors to the homeless on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day to serve Christmas dinners with all the trimmings, offering food and company at what is one of the loneliest times of the year for many.

In addition to allowing Social Bite to provide meals for the homeless throughout the entire year in all their cafes, itison’s annual Christmas fundraiser also plays an integral part in the development of Social Bite’s Nationwide housing projects, including the Social Bite village which launched in Edinburgh in May 2018.

The Social Bite village provides an innovative housing model and a supported and nurturing environment for 20 people at a time to transition from homelessness back in to society.

To donate £5 to buy a Christmas dinner for a homeless person or give a Christmas gift for children, families and vulnerable individuals visit the itison website from Thursday 10 December from 7.30am.

All money raised will be donated to Social Bite, The Booth Centre and Changing Lives – and all donations will go directly to the city or region you’re donating in.