Thanks to the generosity of readers, we have already raised £350,000 in the week since our 2022 appeal was launched. This year, we are supporting two organisations that are experts at reaching deep within the communities they serve. Donations will provide urgently needed funds to frontline services that increasing numbers of people across the UK desperately need. Food, clothing and warm banks, and debt and housing advice, are all in demand as never before, as living standards fall faster and harder than in more than 60 years.
Our chosen charities, Locality and Citizens Advice, support families and individuals in difficulties in complementary ways. Locality is an umbrella organisation for grassroots and community groups. It will distribute your contributions as grants to some of the most economically deprived neighbourhoods in the UK (working with partners in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales to make this a nationwide effort). As well as practical initiatives such as food banks, these smaller local charities focus on issues including loneliness and wellbeing, and run activities for vulnerable groups including older people and children and teenagers growing up in poverty.
