Good morning. On Friday, the Guardian launched its 2025 charity appeal, an annual tradition that brings the whole organisation together to raise money for a cause that is urgent, relevant and rooted in our values.
This year’s campaign focuses on supporting local communities with practical programmes including training people on how to run local campaigns, holding sessions where communities can come together to discuss difficult issues, and pairing groups of 11- and 12-year-olds from different faiths and backgrounds to spend whole days together comparing their lives and discussing stereotypes.
Guardian editor-in-chief Katharine Viner introduced the appeal in this piece, writing that the campaign “is a tribute to those whose voluntary efforts transform individual lives and communities, in the public interest, and a celebration of social justice”. But to hear more about why we chose this year’s theme, where the money will go and how readers can get involved, I spoke to Patrick Butler, the Guardian’s social policy editor and chair of the Guardian charity appeal committee. First, the headlines.
Five big stories
Health | One in seven people in England who need hospital care are not receiving it because their GP referral is lost, rejected or delayed, the NHS’s patient watchdog has found.
Ukraine | Donald Trump may walk away from the Ukrainian war, the US president’s oldest son has said in comments to a Middle East conference.
UK politics | At least eight MEPs elected for Ukip or Brexit party are now known to have been the focus of efforts by alleged Russian asset, Nathan Gill.
Israel-Gaza | Benjamin Netanyahu has said that the first phase of the UN-endorsed Gaza ceasefire plan is close to completion, and that the second phase must involve the disarmament of Hamas.
Culture | Martin Parr, the British documentary photographer who captured the peculiarities of the nation with clarity and hilarity, has died aged 73.
In depth: ‘Our appeals are always about hope’
In the days of the Manchester Guardian the paper would sometimes publish letters around December time making charity appeals. In 1883, for example, the Old Garratt Ragged school raised funds to give 300 pupils a roast dinner on Christmas Day, and during the first world war the newspaper urged readers to donate so presents could be sent to those serving at the front in the Lancashire and Cheshire regiments.
The first modern annual appeal launched in 1998, and Patrick Butler has been one of the key figures organising them for the past decade – a period in which Guardian readers have donated £15m to a range of causes, from supporting refugees and asylum seekers to combating child poverty, addressing the climate crisis, helping Windrush campaigners and assisting victims of war.
“Charity appeals are never about ‘safe’ topics,” Patrick told me. “They always reflect the issues the Guardian is reporting on – and the values our readers care about.”
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How did we choose this year’s theme?
Every year, a small group of Guardian employees comes together to start thinking about what the year’s Christmas appeal will be. They have a few core principles that guide them.
“We ask: what’s been in the news? What’s topical? And we think about Guardian values and Guardian readers’ values. We look for themes grounded in social justice,” says Patrick.
This year, he says, a sense of “unsettling social division, anger, unrest and extremist violence” loomed in the background – but the aim wasn’t to dwell on the negative. It was to focus on the solution.
“Our appeals are always about hope. All year we cover terrible things – war, conflict, the climate emergency. The appeal is about showing the positive side: people doing really good work. We wanted to support grassroots charities whose work nurtures hope, community, pride and positive change. Their work is a powerful antidote to the distrust and hatred increasingly visible.”
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Which charities are benefiting?
This year the appeal fund is raising money for five separate organisations: the Linking Network, Locality, Citizens UK, Who is your neighbour? and Hope Unlimited.
As Katharine Viner put it: “These charities, which operate in some of the UK’s most economically deprived areas, campaign for better housing, improved health services and thriving high streets. They help restore abandoned libraries, parks and community centres. They run food banks, jobs and skills initiatives, youth and sports clubs, drop-in centres, arts projects, neighbourhood festivals and refugee welcome initiatives. They help to build hope.”
“We’re supporting charities doing work that highlights the values most of us share – tolerance, compassion, common humanity,” Patrick says. “There’s more that brings us together than divides us.”
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How did we reclaim the language of the far right?
This year, those who put together the Guardian’s Christmas campaign had a clever idea about how to market it. What if they re-purposed slogans regularly used by the far right, and subverted them so that they had a more hopeful message?
So it will run with messages like “Our country is full – of people who can heal division” and “Bring back good old-fashioned British values – like empathy and compassion.”
It’s a way for the Guardian to show that it’s easy to name a problem, but there are also hard-working people out there, who often go unspoken about, trying to work out solutions.
“A lot of the rhetoric used by people who want to divide us is: ‘Britain’s broken, it’s going to the dogs, things aren’t what they used to be.’ And actually what we’re saying is there’s loads of brilliant, positive stuff that’s happening in local communities, which we want to support. That’s where we’re coming from.”
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How can readers get involved?
The main way readers can contribute is by making a donation – you can do it online here – but there is also the annual telethon that you can take part in on Saturday 13 December, when you get a chance to speak to Guardian writers as you pledge a donation.
“It’s really fun to do,” Patrick says. “Readers call in, make a donation and you get 10 minutes chatting with them. They tell you why they love the Guardian – and sometimes what they’re disappointed with – but it’s great for journalists because it is unmediated contact with readers. In my experience, they’re genuinely lovely conversations.”
The Guardian Bookshop will also donate 20p from every order received until 31 December to the appeal.
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Was it a difficult process?
I ask Patrick how the days leading up to the launch of an appeal feels: is it a frantic rush, or a case of just sitting back waiting to press the big red launch button?
“A mixture of the two,” he tells me.
“Around mid-November,” he says “it becomes that classic journalistic working to deadline thing, where you’re commissioning articles about all the great work that these charities do, you’re talking to the charities about how best we can tell their story. There’s lots of admin stuff, and so it becomes a very frantic last three weeks.”
Patrick was also at pains to point out how the appeal touches every part of the Guardian, including a lot of the unsung heroes behind the scenes who don’t get bylines.
“It isn’t just the newspaper and the website. It’s Guardian marketing. The legal team are involved in drawing up the contracts. The live events team runs the telethon. There are people on the committee from all departments of the Guardian having their say. So it is very much a collective effort.”
The contribution of you, the reader, is very much part of that collective. Donate to the Guardian charity appeal here.
What else we’ve been reading
I have always been a fan of the photographer Martin Parr who has died aged 73. This gallery features some of his best images of ordinary people living their everyday lives. Katy Vans, newsletters team
An essential staple of the Belam family Christmas for many years has been getting something new and party-friendly for the PlayStation, and new board games. Here is a rundown of the best of the latter this year. Martin
Where the US leads the UK tends to follow, so it was with a sense of foreboding that I read this excellent piece about Trump’s plans to ban immigration to people from an ever-widening range of countries. Katy
Fashion designers August Barron (Benjamin Barron and Bror August Vestbø) have curated for Dazed an enjoyable video playlist of their favourite inspiring pop diva videos: Kylie, Gaga, Björk and more, worth turning up to 11. Martin
Christmas is coming whether you like it or not, and this year’s trend for bizarre baubles (Ozempic needles?) gave me some light relief. Katy
Sport
Formula One | Lando Norris said he is proud of the way he went about winning his first Formula One world championship, stating after an emotional celebration with his McLaren team and family that he was glad he “won it my way”.
Football | Crystal Palace have moved up to fourth place in the Premier League after a 2-1 victory at Fulham.
Ashes | Ben Stokes has admitted that the way England have folded in key moments during the first two Ashes Tests has led him to question the character of his players, and said: “A dressing room that I am captain of isn’t a place for weak men.”
The front pages
“Patients at risk as one in seven GP referrals ‘vanish into black hole’” is the Guardian splash. The Mail leads on “Public no longer trust NHS over dementia care”, the Independent says “Probation chief warns service is in ‘perpetual crisis’” and the Times has “State will encourage all staff to join union”. The Telegraph runs with “Right wingers branded danger to children” and the FT looks at the US with “Fed set for rate cut despite splits over prospects for economy under Trump”. The Sun splashes on “Harry gun cop u-turn”, in reference to Prince Harry and armed police protection on visits to the UK, and the Mirror has “Now make him Sir Kev” – on Kevin Sinfield’s fundraising efforts.
Today in Focus
Is AI a bubble that’s about to pop?
Should we be worried about the vast amounts of money pouring into AI? And what will happen if the bubble bursts? Blake Montgomery reports.
Cartoon of the day | Tom Gauld
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The Upside
A bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all bad
YiZhong Zhuang travelled to Canberra in 2006 for a medical school interview, expecting to find cheap accommodation on arrival. With the city full due to a convention and even the airport closed overnight, he wandered the streets unsure where to stay. A young woman noticed him looking lost and, without hesitation, offered him the floor of her ANU dorm room and a spare meal from her part-time job.
Only later did he appreciate the risk she took by helping a stranger. Though he never saw her again, he has never forgotten her generosity and hopes “the universe has repaid her act of kindness many times over. The world needs more people like that woman.”
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Bored at work?
And finally, the Guardian’s puzzles are here to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow.
