£500K HELP TO EASE BREADLINE CRISIS

APPEAL TOPS 2.5M AFTER CHILDHOOD TRUST JOINS UP TO FOCUS ON CAPITAL

- David Cohen Campaigns Editor

THE Evening Standard Christmas appeal to help people on the breadline struggling with the cost of living crisis was given a boost today when The Childhood Trust became the second charity to join us to raise and disseminate funding. They have pledged a £500,000 donation to our appeal from their founder Grant Gordon, which will be used to match reader donations.

It takes the total raised after one week of our joint campaign with our sister title The Independent to £2.5 million and follows the announcement last week of our partnership with Comic Relief, which pledged £1 million. This was followed by six-figure donations from Sainsbury’s, Amazon, British Airways and eBay.

The money we raise with The Childhood Trust will be restricted to funding groups that support disadvantaged children in London whereas the money raised with Comic Relief will go wider — funding organisations that support people of all ages who are struggling countrywide. Together they offer a powerful mix of projects that support people of all ages and in different family structures whilst maintaining our focus on London.

Laurence Guinness, CEO of The Childhood Trust, said: “London’s disadvantaged children who were hit hardest by the pandemic expected life to get