First, register here. Once you have registered we’ll email you with instructions on how to set up your JustGiving page and start inviting your guests to your Big Social Bite.

Ask friends, family, and colleagues to support your Big Social Bite by paying it forward with a donation onto your JustGiving page.

A Big Social Bite is  chance to come together with loved ones, friends, or colleagues, share some delicious food with an important difference. By collecting donations at your Big Social Bite you will be helping to provide meals for people who are experiencing homelessness, and help break the cycle of homelessness across the UK.

Yes, it’s completely free to register. There is also no fundraising target amount to reach with your Big Social Bite, it’s about raising as much as you can to help people break the cycle of homelessness. You can sign up here today.

You can invite guests to your Big Social Bite in anyway you wish. Some ideas to get you started include

• Emailing colleagues or posting on a work intranet about your Big Social Bite
• Create a whatsapp group
• Create a Facebook event
• Put up posters inviting people to your Big Social Bite. You can download our posters here.

Remember to share the link to your JustGiving fundraising page when you invite guests and ask them if they are able to pay it forward with a donation

Absolutely! You can hold your Big Social Bite wherever suits you best.

You can do whatever you would like for your Big Social Bite! Here are some ideas for inspiration

Yes! You can hold a Big Social Bite as often as you would like. You can use your same JustGiving fundraising page to collect donations for all of your Big Social Bites.

It’s totally up to you for when you’d like to hold your Big Social Bite, it could be anytime in the year.

Yes you can download Big Social Bite posters to put up in your workplace, school, or community club here at our downloadable resources hub.

You can set up your JustGiving fundraising page to easily collect donations online from all of your guests. JustGiving is one of the UK’s most used fundraising platforms and is free to use, all you need is an email address to sign up. If you don’t have one already, you can make a JustGiving account with your email, then create and personalise your online page.

Donations on JustGiving come straight through to Social Bite automatically and you can share your page easily through links or QR codes.

Paying it Forward is to pass on an act of kindness onto someone else. At Social Bite, Paying it Forward has been at the heart of all we do. It all started more than 10 years ago with inviting customers in our first coffee shop to Pay it Forward at the till and cover the cost of a meal or a drink for someone experiencing homelessness. You can enjoy a meal or coffee yourself and know you’ve provided the same for someone else too.

All funds raised from your Big Social Bite will help contribute towards the mission to end homelessness.  We have three key areas of work: homes, jobs, and food.

Your fundraising will help Social Bite continue to provide free food as well as supporting our other long-term projects that break the cycle of homelessness. Social Bite provided over 165,000 items of free food and drink to people in need over the last 12-month period, through our coffee shops and community networks.

Long-term projects include Social Bite’s Jobs First programme, which focuses on providing real job opportunities to people who have experienced homelessness, and our Social Bite Villages which an provide innovative alternative to unsuitable temporary accommodation.

Yes, you can. We know that not everyone is comfortable using an online fundraising page like JustGiving so don’t worry, you can still collect cash donations at your Big Social Bite if you would prefer.

Here’s some tips for holding your cash collection:

• Have an obvious cash collecting point at your Big Social Bite. This could be large A4 envelopes, a collection bucket, cash tin, or a collection bowl. Make it clear and obvious where people can donate.
• Make sure to always keep your cash collection in a secure and visible place during your Big Social Bite. You should have a tent card or sign next to your donation point that clearly states who the funds are being raised for (Social Bite) and our registered charity number (SC045232). Download our handy printable tent card for this.
• It’s always best practice to have someone else help you count the cash after the event to make sure you have the correct total, which you can share with all your guests.

Once you’ve finished your cash collection, you can pay in your cash donations online here.  This is the quickest and easiest way to pay in your fundraising directly.

Alternatively, if you have a cheque to send, you can post this to:

‘Big Social Bite Team’, Social Bite, 1 Leith Walk, Edinburgh, EH6 8LN

Please make sure to include a covering letter with your cheque to let us know that this is from your Big Social Bite fundraising event. We also ask that you include you email address or a postal address so that we can get in touch with you to confirm that we have received your cheque.

If you would prefer to make payment via a bank transfer, please email community@social-bite.co.uk to request our account information.

We recommend collecting donations via an online JustGiving fundraising page. This means that donations come directly through to us rather than requiring you to collect cash. We are unable to send official Social Bite collection boxes for your Big Social Bite but look at our cash handling guidelines in the question above for best information on how to collect cash donations

Absolutely!  Whether you are looking to get active, ready to socialise and learn new skills, or just love being creative, there are many different ways you can raise funds and awareness in support of Social Bite. It could be an event with your workplace, running a marathon, holding your own Sleep Out or something completely different.

Check out some ideas here.  From organising a pub quiz to doing a skydive, whatever you decide to do, get in touch and let us know so we can support you along the way.