The Guardian’s Hope appeal has so far raised over £750,000, with generous readers digging deep to support inspirational grassroots charities that bring together divided communities, promote tolerance, and tackle racism and hatred.
The 2025 Guardian appeal is raising funds for five charities: Citizens UK, the Linking Network, Locality, Hope Unlimited Charitable Trust, and Who Is Your Neighbour?
Launched in December, the Hope appeal is intended as a positive blast of hope and optimism against an unsettling backdrop of extremist violence and harassment, anti-migrant rhetoric, and the re-emergence of “1970s-style racism”.
The latest of our editorial series featuring our partner charities highlights the astonishing response of community and faith groups in Liverpool in the wake of the Southport riots in 2024, when “solidarity blossomed” and thousands gathered to face down a threatened racist attack on a local refugee support centre.
“There was a sense of relief, solidarity, hope. We had seen a big rise of hate, but [then] we saw a big rise of love,” Dr Badr Abdullah, the chair of Liverpool Muslim Society, a member of appeal partner Citizens UK, told the Guardian’s northern editor Josh Halliday.
All five charities deliver practical projects designed to foster empathy, build trust and promote positive change on the issues that matter for local communities, from affordable housing to youth clubs, arts projects to food banks.
Other recent series highlights include Ireland correspondent Rory Carroll visit to the Circle of Change project run by Locality member 174 Trust in Belfast. It holds monthly social gatherings to unite people across race, class and faith. “It restored my hope. It humanised us all,” participant Maureen Hamblin told Rory.
Taj Ali’s Guardian film featured the work of Locality member Back on the Map, a community organisation revitalising a Sunderland neighbourhood after far-right riots in 2024, while Helen Pidd reported on Who Is Your Neighbour?’s pioneering work holding “difficult conversations” on issues such as race and immigration.
Lucy Knight delivered a moving account of SaSh, a Jewish-Muslim charity food kitchen project supported by Hope Unlimited that tackles hatred and hunger with joy and irrepressible determination.
The appeal has struck a chord with many donors. One reader emailed: “I’m so glad the Guardian is supporting organisations which bring people together, supporting what is humane and in common amongst us all.”
Tony Armstrong, chief executive of Locality, said: “We want to thank Guardian readers for their kind donations. When people come together to listen and support each other, that’s when they create opportunities and hope for the future.”
