Eating out isn’t all self-indulgence. Book up in advance and you could be giving charities a boost. Catherine Whyte explains
As the feast-until-you-burst season looms again, it’s a healthy time to focus on altruistic ways of spreading the love – to say nothing of the money.
ChariTable is a new initiative that fits the bill. Use the free app to book a table at your favourite local Italian, or to make a dinner reservation at that top London restaurant you’ve been dying to try, and ChariTable will donate cash to a charity of your choice.
It’s a tasty idea. Restaurants pay ChariTable £2 per diner and the company, in turn, passes 50% of that on to charity. There are thousands of restaurants already on board (see below for a list of local destinations – you may be surprised by the variety). Moreover, by way of comparison, booking platforms such as OpenTable charge restaurants around £3 per diner, so this latest scheme is unmistakably cost-effective for businesses involved.
The concept is the combined brainchild of city boy David Johnstone and Lord Stanley Fink – aka the godfather of hedge funds – whose prolific philanthropy is as familiar as his outspoken pro-tax avoidance views. I found myself in company with the peer at the launch, which took place a few weeks ago in The Dorchester’s glittering ballroom.
“Young people carry less and less cash these days,” he told me. “So, it’s harder for them to donate via traditional methods. For years, I have been trying to think up innovative ways of generating unrestricted revenue for charities – particularly smaller ones. I think we’ve done it.”
He’s right. It’s going to be the smaller charities that really benefit, particularly those who have little or no spare money for flashy marketing. There are more than 7,500 already linked to the scheme: a number that is bound to increase, given that it’s relatively simple for charitable bodies to sign themselves up.
In fact, representatives from quite a few charities were present at the launch. I spoke to one man who was there on behalf of Mary’s Meals (I’d never heard of it). The charity feeds a quarter of the primary school age children in Malawi (yes, really) at a cost of £12.50 a year per child. It’s not hard to appreciate the positive impact a scheme like ChariTable could have.
This ‘company with a social purpose’ has already set its sights on the big corporates, with the likes of Sainsbury’s, Merrill Lynch and Deutsche Bank now making all their bookings through the platform. Again, the figures speak for themselves. If just four people per business make a booking every week for a year, that generates £20,000 in revenue.
As the (slightly cheesy) tagline says: “Giving back for free has never tasted so good.”
Pubs, chains and restaurants already signed up include
Guildford
The Anchor, Ripley; The Restaurant at Tante Marie, Woking; The Onslow Arms, West Clandon; The William Bray, Shere; Borelli’s, Farnham; CAU, Guildford; Positano, Guildford; Barbaracca, Godalming.
Surrey Downs
Spaghetti Tree, Tadworth; La Barbe, Reigate; The Gallery Restaurant at Denbies, Dorking; The Running Horses, Mickleham; Buenos Aires, Reigate; Galu, Nork, Banstead.
Elmbridge
La Rive, Cobham; Meejana, Weybridge; Henry’s Grill, Esher; Fish! Kitchen, Kingston; Petersham Nurseries, Petersham, Richmond.
The ChariTable booking app is available to download free for all mobile devices. Visit: charitablebookings.org
Hungry for another great foodie article? Check out our Food Section for more tasty morsels like our round up of the best Sunday roasts in Surrey & SW London
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