15:00, 03 December 2020
Words by Smiley Team, Staff Writer, London
PRESS RELEASE: Non-profit organisation Smiley Movement launches event to end homelessness in partnership with Social Bite.
On December 1st, Smiley Movement held an event in conversation with Social Bite, a Scottish based non-profit working to end homelessness across Scotland through its innovative programmes, ammassing 35,000 live viewers with an additionally 50,000 people tuning in after the event.
Available to watch for free online, the event explored Social Bite's impact to date and raise awareness of its groundbreaking work in the fight against poverty.
In the UK, 20% of people in the UK live in poverty; 8 million of which are adults, 4 million children, 40% from LGBT communities and 1.9 million are pensioners. The system needs a radical overhaul to ensure vulnerable people are supported and can not only survive, but thrive.
In the engaging 1 hour discussion, Smiley Movement showcased how Social Bite tackles the issue of homelessness head on via their Social Bite Academy, Social Bite Village and Housing First Project in Scotland, and talk about the positive impact of the global fundraising sensation which was the World’s Big Sleep Out campaign for the last 4 years, which has raised over £8 million for the charity.
Marzena Farana - Sherlock, Social Impact Manager at Social Bite comments:
“We, at Social Bite, realise that with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, people affected by homelessness and poverty are in a bigger need than ever before.”
“We have just launched our campaign - Festival of Kindness - that aims to provide accommodation, support and 250,000 food and essentials packs to homeless people over winter.”
“We are really excited to spread the word and be part of this SmileyTalk, where we will be able to speak about the work we have done so far and planning to do, to end homelessness for good.
“We will be delighted to invite people to help Social Bite to create a movement of kindness and spread festive goodwill to those who need it most all over the UK.”
Christina Medici, Head of Partnerships at Smiley Movement comments:
“'This is an opportunity for people to peak behind the curtains of what it's like to work at one of the leading charities supporting people experiencing homelessness”
“From providing educational opportunities, creating an entire sustainable homeless village concept and working with councils across Scotland on an effective Housing Project, Social Bite understands the complexities of ending homelessness.”
We are excited to be able to host these discussions in an event you can watch at any time, from anywhere.”
The event was broadcast across Smiley Movement’s social media where it is still available to watch for free. You can tune in by watching @smileynews.
For more information head to: https://smileymovement.org/smiley-talks/ending-homelessness-building-resilient-communities
About Social Bite
@SocialBite_
Founded by Josh Littlejohn MBE and Alice Thompson, Social Bite began life as a small cafe in Edinburgh, Scotland, in August 2012. Since then, the organisation has gone on to support hundreds of thousands of people experiencing homelessness and poverty across Scotland’s cities. The Sleep In The Park event organised by the charity saw £8 million raised and 18,000 people get involved. In 2019, The World’s Big Sleepout was created. This was a global campaign to raise awareness of homelessness. The campaign saw 60,000 members of the public Sleepout in 52 cities all over the world and was supported by Will Smith and Dame Helen Mirren.
About Smiley Movement
Smileymovement.org
@smileynews
Smiley Movement (CIC) is a non- profit, sponsored by the original Smiley Company. With a focus on positive solutions journalism, Smiley News covers the work of inspiring charities changing the world through their front-line work in the community. With a mission of ‘Helping you Help OthersTM’, Smiley Movement work by empowering people and organisation doing good in the world, connecting them to new resources and supporters through our ‘Matchmaker for GoodTM’ platform, and through their Smiley Talks mobilise good ideas and inspire positive change in the world.
For more information about the event please contact [email protected]
