Charity donations during the Giving Tuesday fundraiser in December were up 42% despite social distancing restrictions in place due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The figures have been released by Charities Aid Foundation (CAF), which runs the annual campaign that took place on December 1.
Due to the health crisis much of this year’s activity took place online to adhere to social distancing guidelines.
This figures from Visa for the event shows that £20.2m was donated on the day, which is the equivalent of £14,000 a minute and up 42% on 2019’s figures.
😍We're so excited to share that over £20.2 million was donated to good causes on #GivingTuesday! 😍 That's a 42% increase from last year!💞
— #GivingTuesday - 1 December 2020 (@givingtuesdayuk) December 17, 2020
❤️Thank you to everyone involved in #GiveBack2020 and to @VisaUK for sharing the stats ❤️ pic.twitter.com/F8dyQviJxD
During the day the Big Give’s Christmas Challenge was launched and raised more than £7m.
In addition, Word for Good fundraising platform reported that small businesses raised more than £100,000 on the day.
“At the Charities Aid Foundation, we are proud to lead Giving Tuesday and so happy to see that it has gone from strength to strength despite taking place with lockdowns in effect across the UK,” said CAF’s Giving Tuesday lead Gráinne Mathews
“In a year when charities have faced a steep increase in demand for their services and more than half have suffered a drop in donations, Giving Tuesday was a desperately needed opportunity, not only to raise vital funds but to talk about their important work.”
Among celebrities to support the annual event was The Duchess of Cornwall, the actors Stephen Fry and Sir Patrick Stewart as well as Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil.
Other activity included Cancer Research encouraging people to share a picture of their Christmas tree and donate five pounds. Meanwhile, The British Library asked people to adopt a book and Alzheimer’s Research UK had donations matched by Iceland stores.
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