Articles from the media

UPDATES
E-mail to hear about site changes, placing 'update' in body of message

Public donations exceed £50m government aid

Steven Morris
Saturday January 1, 2005
Guardian

The British public last night surpassed the £50m which the government has donated to the victims of the tsunami disaster.

Charity bosses were hoping that the unprecedented response from ordinary people would prompt the government to increase the amount of funding it is committing to the relief effort.

By yesterday afternoon £45m had been donated to the main appeal, which is being organised by the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), a grouping of 12 leading British humanitarian charities.

Its call centre was taking up to £15,000 every minute and people were also donating via its website while more cash was expected to arrive via the post and high street banks.

On top of that amount, some people were preferring to give money via their favourite charities. The British Red Cross had taken £4m by yesterday while Oxfam's total stood at £3.7m, taking the total easily past the sum the government has given.

Ben Miller, a spokesman for the DEC, said: "It's quite unprecedented and heart-warming. Just keep the money coming in. As the disaster unfolds, it becomes even more imperative."

Privately, charities believe it was the public's overwhelming initial response on Thursday which prompted the government to more than treble the money it was sending to the region to £50m.

Mr Miller said: "If we can donate more money, maybe it can force the government to increase its aid efforts even more."

The DEC is at pains to point out that less than a penny in each pound donated would be spent on administration. The organisation said the money was being spent as it came in and emphasised that local workers rather than foreign ones were being used on the ground where possible.

Across the country, events were being organised to raise money for the disaster. A group of 200 friends and ac quaintances in Surrey organised "dinner aid" last night, paying their hosts to attend new year dinner parties on the understanding that the money would be donated to the relief fund.

Football fans in the south-west of England held a collection after hearing that a promising player in Plymouth Argyle's youth team lost his parents in the disaster.

Pubs and clubs were donating some of their profits and encouraging partygoers to give generously.

Congregations at mosques were asked to give money at Friday prayers and cash continued to flow into Muslim charities.

Collections were being arranged at churches and cathedrals across the country for tomorrow.

As well as giving via phone lines and the internet, people queued at charity shops to donate. Oxfam in Kensington, west London, took £8,000 in one day while its shop in Chichester, West Sussex, managed £7,000.

Companies and organisations were also offering their support.

The Thai-based brewery, Chang, which sponsors Everton FC, donated 2,000 club T-shirts and bottled water; Cheltenham racecourse pled-ged to donate £1 for every paying customer at today's meeting; the Corporation of London donated £100,000; Richard Branson gave £50,000 and said his Virgin airline is planning a relief flight; health company Bupa donated £100,000 and launched a fundraising campaign for staff while Marks & Spencer donated £250,000.

Fundraising efforts were continuing in Britain's Sri Lankan community. The White Pigeon organisation said it had raised £500,000 from the Tamil community around Britain.

The Sri Lankan community was expected to raise even more money at events in temples to mark the new year.

Doctors and supplies from Britain were also been sent to Tamil areas devastated by the tsunami.