Just over a month ago, we launched the Guardian and Observer’s annual charity appeal in a mood of rage and despair. How could it be, I wrote, that in one of the world’s wealthiest countries, millions of people were forced to skip meals because they couldn’t afford food, or were sitting freezing at home because they were too scared to switch the heating on.
Our aim was to raise money for grassroots charities providing a lifeline to those households hit hardest by the cost of living crisis. Heating or eating: which one would you choose? That was the blunt question we asked in our appeal adverts. We didn’t know how the appeal would work out – after all, many potential donors would understandably be feeling the pinch this year.
