A number of Leeds restaurants are helping to provide beds, shelter and other essentials for the city's homeless this winter by adding an optional £1 donation onto customers' bills.
Some restaurants in the city are partnering with a national campaign called StreetSmart. which gives diners the option to add a £1 donation onto their bill for the less fortunate whilst they eat out and enjoy themselves over the festive season.
Local restaurants in Leeds taking part this year include Angelica, Crafthouse, East 59th, Fourth Floor at Harvey Nichols, Issho, MEATLiquor Leeds, Solita Beverly and Solita Harrogate.
Across previous years, the campaign has raised over £10million in total – with ALL monies going directly to local organisations, thanks to the generosity of sponsors Land Aid.
This year’s campaign will run throughout the Christmas period, a time when many of us are out indulging ourselves in bars and restaurants.
Funds will go towards essential services like the creation of beds, housing, mental health advice and training and job support.
It’s the busiest time of the year for the hospitality scene, with diners tending to spend much more in venues over this period than they do throughout the rest of the year.
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on people already living in poverty and the homeless community in Leeds, with an increase in the number of people being made homeless sadly set to rise as the pandemic continues.
The funds raised by StreetSmart partners in Leeds will go towards the critical work of local homegrown charities helping to improve the lives of homeless people.
These organisations are focused on helping individuals break the cycle, regain their dignity and rebuild their lives via positive action, as well as providing crisis and emergency shelter and food during the pandemic.
To find out more and see all the participating restaurants, visit the StreetSmart website here.
Feature image - StreetSmart UK / Crafthouse leeds
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Leeds pizza shop hailed ‘exceptional’ and ‘best in the UK’ by major reviewer
A Leeds pizza takeaway has received a glowing review from popular review duo.
Edges Pizza opened up their first permanent spot in Leeds back in June this year, after making a name for themselves slinging out pizzas at multiple pop-ups across the city.
Owners Grace and Edge from Harrogate opened Edges Pizza two years ago, taking inspiration from trips to New York over the years.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
Their pizzas are a love letter to the class New York slice, think thin and crispy rather than chewy and floppy. But above all else, think absolutely delicious.
And now, they've caught the attention of a major review page, with Bite Twice Food Reviews (a page with almost 300k followers) paying Edges a visit.
The food review duo of Gerry del Guercio and Paul Delany popped up in Holbeck beneath the arches to get their hands on a pizza, and the outcome is brilliant.
In the video, Bite Twice said that the pizza is 'f**cking exceptional' and up there with 'one of the best pizzas in the UK'.
Before even taking a bite, they said: "On aesthetic, I don't think anywhere in the UK is doing pizza like this".
Images: The Hoot Leeds
Then after the first bite, they go on to say: "There are very few pizzas in the UK that create this, I’m a little bit blown away".
As Londoners themselves, they go on to say that Edges is 'easily hitting with the best that we’ve got down south'.
And if that's not high praise enough, they sign off the video saying: "Leeds has got an absolute gem. I give this a stamp so hard my foot went through the pizza. Edges. Don Level."
Yorkshire-set Christmas film by Leeds director starring Richard E. Grant set to hit UK cinemas next month
Clementine Hall
A brand-new Christmas film is hitting cinemas nationwide next month - and it’s a proper Leeds success story.
Jack Spring directed his first feature film at just 19 years old and has spent the last decade carving out a career in independent film, as well as co-founding Leeds-based production company Shush Films.
His first movie, Destination: Dewsbury, was shot just down the road in - you guessed it - Dewsbury. And after moving to Leeds from Grimsby, Jack became determined to build his business from the city, putting down roots and growing his production company here.
Image: Supplied
Now, after years of working on independent projects, Jack has taken his biggest leap yet with a brand-new Christmas film, Merry Christmas Aubrey Flint.
Set in Yorkshire, Merry Christmas Aubrey Flint follows Aubrey Flint, a reclusive model soldier painter with a lifelong hatred of Christmas, who is sentenced to community service at Willow Lodge - a retirement home on the brink of closure.
Roped into helping with a chaotic production of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, Aubrey clashes with its interesting set of residents...
And the cast is about as star-studded as it gets, featuring Richard E. Grant, John Bradley, Celia Imrie, Adjoa Andoh, Sophia Di Martino, Adrian Rawlins and Kiell Smith-Bynoe.
Image: Supplied
The heartwarming festive comedy will hit cinemas nationwide on Friday 6 November - a huge milestone for a Leeds-based director and production company, taking a homegrown Yorkshire story to audiences across the country.
You just can't beat a proper wholesome British Christmas film, so you can best believe we'll be watching in the cinema, popcorn in hand.
Georgina Pellant -
30th November 2021 
