Posted on 25th February 2010
2009 was a record year for many Christmas appeals, despite the gloomy economic climate, with newspapers receiving more donations than ever before.
The largest sum raised was by the Financial Times raised which generated a massive £ 2,708,417 for the charity Room to Read, which supports child literacy in the developing world. Room to Read said that was enough to provide access to quality educational programmes for more than 173,000 children.
Individual FT readers contributed £816,439 that was matched pound for pound by donations from companies and foundations. A gala wine-tasting evening raised £1,025,327 while an online auction raised £57,013.
Even without the events and trust and corporate donations, this represents a giant leap in individual giving from last year’s appeal, which raised £167,389 for WaterAid.
The appeal in the Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Telegraph and Telegraph.co.uk raised over £1m for their four chosen charities – the British Limbless Ex-Service Men’s Association, Starehe, Bliss and Excellent Development. The charities all work in different fields but share a common aim of transforming lives and doing so as practically and efficiently as possible.
A phone-in hosted by Telegraph journalists took donation calls from readers and raised nearly £125,000, receiving 1,725 calls. Exceeding £1m is the latest step in ever-increasing success for the Telegraph appeal which raised more than £831,000 for three charities, while in 2007 it raised £550,000.
Daily Mail readers donated £564,764 to the paper’s 'Help Heal Our Broken Heroes' Christmas appeal. The money has gone to the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association, which assists wounded war heroes who have suffered injuries, including the loss of limbs or sight, in conflicts from the Second World War to Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Independent’s appeal was for three charities – Action Aid, ComputerAid International and Peace Direct. It raised £125, 339, including over £38,000 through an online auction organised by the paper.
Charities benefitting from The Times appeal were Solar Aid, providing solar power to villages in Africa, Place2Be, which offers free counseling for troubled children and Fine Cell Work, which helps prisoners to rehabilitate through needlework. So far, over £300,000 has been raised.
The Times’ result will be boosted by the Zurich Community Trust which will match donations to Place2Be, up to £100,000, while donations to Fine Cell Work will be matched by a consortium of foundations including the Michael Varah Memorial Fund.
In 2008, The Times raised over £1.2m for three charities – Action for Children, Thrive, and Pump Aid. This was a record for the paper, although the final tally for the Christmas 2009 appeal is not yet known.
The Sunday Times ran a separate appeal in aid of Médecins Sans Frontières and the Royal Society of Medicine. It brought in over £700,000.
Meanwhile, Guardian and Observer readers gave over £278,000 to the papers’ ongoing Ugandan development project, with the Christmas 2009 appeal focused on the Teso region in north-east Uganda. The money will be used to award bursaries for study and training, with a particular emphasis on girls, and will be administered by the Ugandan Mvule Trust. The appeal was still open at the time of writing and this is the last year in a commitment by both papers to fund an African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF) project in Katine, Uganda.
