Social Bite and Itison campaign sees almost 100,000 meals bought for homeless people

ALMOST 100,000 meals have been bought for homeless people in an online campaign.

The annual itison fundraiser for Social Bite gathered £455,000, meaning no homeless person will be turned away without a meal from the social enterprise cafe in 2018.

The initiative allows people to ‘pay it forward’ by buying a meal for a homeless person to claim afterwards.

Launched in mid-December, the 2017 fundraiser saw a record 91,116 meals donated, up from the previous record of 75,755.

Social Bite co-founder Josh Littlejohn said: “We’re just blown away by the generosity and support people have given us this year – we’ve raised enough to not only provide Christmas meals and gifts for people who might otherwise be cold, lonely and hungry at Christmas, but to also make sure we can provide hot meals and vital support services right throughout 2018.

“We wouldn’t be able to do this without itison and the tens of thousands of people who donated – and would like to say a massive thanks. We’re battling to end homelessness in Scotland for good and we couldn’t do this without you.”

Oli Norman, chief executive of PR and events company itison, said: “It’s incredible to think that in just two weeks, our members have helped raise enough money to make sure that not a single homeless person will be turned away empty-handed from a Social Bite cafe right throughout 2018.

“It’s just awesome and we’d like to thank everyone who donated, shared on social media and told their friends about the campaign – every little bit helps and together we’ve achieved something pretty amazing.”