Thank you, London. Our Winter Survival Appeal has surpassed £2.4 million, following a final week surge in donations from our partners and readers. And the money is already making a difference, with £1.25 million distributed to charities helping some of the most vulnerable people in London and across the country.
We are hugely grateful to our high value donors, Julia and Hans Rausing, Sainsbury’s, Comic Relief, Evening Standard Dispossessed Fund, Burberry, Jingle Jam and TK Maxx and Homesense. But also to the 3,500 ordinary Londoners who gave away £200,000 to help their fellow citizens.
Thanks to all of them, people who would otherwise go hungry will be fed, those who might be cold will be warm, and those struggling with mental health will receive support. Evening Standard proprietor Lord Lebedev added his note of appreciation, saying: “Thousands of families will have a happier Christmas thanks to your generosity.
And finally, from our newsroom in Moorgate to wherever you are in the capital or the UK, everyone at the Standard wishes you a merry Christmas and a happy new year. The paper will return on Tuesday 2 January. Until then, head to standard.co.uk for all the latest news.
Junior doctors strike chaos
The term ‘winter crisis’ may no longer do the situation justice. The latest wave of strikes by junior doctors is set to unleash more than 75,000 cancelled operations and appointments in London alone, as medics walked out for a second day.
The 72-hour England-wide industrial action, running until 7am on Saturday, will be followed by a six-day walk out from January 3, representing the longest in NHS history. This would be disruptive at the best of times. Over the festive period, it may well prove calamitous.
Junior doctors have been offered an average 3 per cent pay rise from January, on top of the nearly 9 per cent recommended by the independent pay review body in April. This has been rejected, with medics holding out for an unlikely 35 per cent.
Instead of precipitating widespread chaos and threatening patient outcomes at the worst possible, junior doctors should scrub up.
ABBA joy
Thank you for the music, but also for the cash. ABBA Voyage in East London is not only a wild night out, but is also generating plenty of Money, Money, Money for the economy.
Social value consultancy RealWorth has found that the series of concerts at the 3,000 seater Abba Arena contributed £322.6 million in spending £177.7 million in extra economic activity in its first year. All while creating 5,000 jobs.
Forget Waterloo, it’s all happening in Stratford.
