Match funding campaign Big Give has raised a record £57.4m for its weeklong Christmas Challenge fundraiser.

More than 1,500 charities took part in the campaign, another record for the event.

The money raised is a 28% increase on last year. As with 2025’s Christmas Challenge the total raised has surpassed on the night totals of established telethons such as those run by Comic Relief and BBC Children in Need.

Celebrities promoting this year’s event included Gary Lineker, Imelda Staunton, Prue Leith, Alan Carr and Judi Dench.

Match funders contributing to this year’s campaign include employment form The Reed Group’s Reed Foundation and AKO Capital’s foundation. They donated £25.8m in donations to match public donations.

Others include the Childhood Trust, The Julia Rausing Trust and PlanAid.

This year a total of 1,591 benefitted and more than 152,000 people donated. It is now the UK’s biggest public fundraising campaign, a title it also held last year before this year’s BBC Children in Need’s appeal raised £45.5m on the night.

Big Give chair James Reed said this year’s campaign “held special significance for me” following the death of his father, Sir Alec Reed, the founder of Big Give, on Giving Tuesday, the campaign’s first day.

“Big Give was founded around his belief that generosity is contagious,” he said.

“Seeing the results of this year’s collective effort, particularly after we asked people to make donations in his memory, is a remarkable testament to his vision and his legacy.

“Big Give now aims to take forward the incredible work that Sir Alec started and raise a total of £1 billion by 2030.”

He added: “I’m deeply grateful to every donor and to our Champions for doubling the difference once again.

“At a time when many charities are under immense pressure, the impact that this support will have cannot be overstated.”

---