The 2018 Guardian and Observer appeal supporting five charities that helped to bring the Windrush scandal to light has raised more than £500,000 in a fortnight.
The charities provide legal assistance, advice, advocacy – and often welfare support – for migrants and UK citizens facing injustice, homelessness and destitution caused by “hostile environment” immigration policies.
The total raised so far includes £45,000 pledged by readers during the appeal telethon last Saturday, when journalists including Marina Hyde, Gary Younge, Owen Jones, Polly Toynbee and Katharine Viner were on hand to take donations. The appeal remains open until 6 January.
Guardian reader Bela, who arrived in the UK from Kenya with her family in 1968 when she was a child, said her own experiences inspired her to give to donate: “This country welcomed me and now it’s my turn to welcome others.”
Arten Llazari, the chief executive of Refugee and Migrant Centre, one of the charities, said: “The success of the appeal is another demonstration of the profound decency of the British public and the way it cares for the vulnerable and marginalised.”
The five appeal charities are: Praxis Community Projects; Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI); Refugee and Migrant Centre Black Country and Birmingham (RMC); the Runnymede Trust; and Law Centres Network.
Many individuals whose heartbreaking stories were revealed by the Guardian’s award-winning coverage of the Windrush scandal were supported directly by our charities. Their work ensured clients were not unjustly deported and detained, and in some cases received the vital NHS treatment wrongly denied to them.
According to the charities, the injustices are continuing, despite the government’s acknowledgement of the problems caused to citizens with a Caribbean background. They anticipate similar problems for EU migrants post-Brexit.
Satbir Singh, JCWI’s chief executive, said: “I would like to thank everyone for their generous donations. The money raised will help us respond to this crisis by doubling the amount of free legal advice we are able to offer vulnerable individuals and families, reaching out into communities to provide vital support and build the kind of early warning systems that could prevent another Windrush from happening.”
Please donate to our appeal here.
