Restaurants taking part in this year's Street Smart campaign to help the homeless have gathered for its official launch.

Phil Bourne, restaurant manager of Muset in Clifton, Helen Chope, manager at Green's Dining Room in St Andrews and Nick Hennessy, co-owner of Del Monico in Bishopston, attended yesterday's launch, hosted by the restaurant at Harvey Nichols, which is also taking part.

It is the second time the chic department store eatery has taken part in the campaign, where diners are asked to donate a pound on top of their bills to help city homeless charities.

The chain as a whole has been supporting Street Smart since it began fund raising 11 years ago, collecting around £370,000 to date nationally for good causes.

Last year the Bristol second-floor restaurant raised £1,329 for homeless charities including One25 and The Bristol Soup Run Trust.

Spokespeople from both charities were also at the launch yesterday.

Nicky Shaw, 35, restaurant manager at the second floor, said: "Street Smart is a good way to help people over Christmas and it's a great way for us to raise money for our local charities.

"We try and bring people's attention to it when they ask for their bills.

"We brief our staff, not just about the campaign, but also about homelessness. You get a lot of stigma attached to it and we're trying to get away from that."

StreetSmart runs throughout November and December and 14 restaurants across the city are taking part in the campaign, which is now in its 10th year.

Yellow cards, with a message of support from Stephen Fry, are being placed on tables in participating restaurants, urging diners to help the cause by adding £1 per table to their bills.

The campaign is running in 18 cities across the UK and around 600 restaurants nationwide are expected to take part.

Last year Bristol Street Smart raised £8,000 for a number of charities and around £85,000 has been raised in Bristol since the city joined the fund-raising effort in 2000.

Glen Pougnet, 38, director of Street Smart, said: "Bristol does brilliantly for us, raising more money than Birmingham.

"In a recession there are always more people who end up on the streets. Our campaign is more relevant than ever."

Restaurants taking part include: Bell's Diner, Bistro La Barrique, Budokan (Clifton), Cafe Maitreya, Delmonico, Fishers, Green's Dining Room, The Living Room, Moreish, Muset, Primrose Cafe, Riverstation, Second Floor Restaurant, Harvey Nichols and Shanghai Nights.