The Guardian and Observer charity appeal in support of refugees has passed the £700,000 mark – just 17 days after the appeal launched.
The news comes the day before our annual charity telethon, when a team of Guardian and Observer writers and editors will take donations to the appeal from readers over the phone.
The team includes the Guardian editor-in-chief, Katharine Viner, the Observer editor, John Mulholland, as well as Owen Jones, Polly Toynbee, Gary Younge, Tim Dowling, Zoe Williams, Peter Bradshaw, Jonathan Freedland, Stuart Heritage, Deborah Orr and Sali Hughes.
The telethon takes place on Saturday 12 December, and we will be ready to take calls between 10am and 6pm. The number to call is:
020-3353 4368
Your donations will be shared equally among our six appeal charities: Red Cross, Migrant Offshore Aid Station, Doctors of the World, Refugee Council, City of Sanctuary, and Asylum Seeker Resource Centre.
You can find more details of Saturday’s telethon, together with a full lineup of the journalists who will be answering calls, here.
Meanwhile, donors continue to email us to explain why they feel moved to contribute.
Hilary Hodgson wrote:
[Refugees] are fellow human beings who need help. We can, we should, offer some.
Colin Lang said:
It is our duty to support persecuted populations, to fight war and terror with love and kindness.
A high-profile US politician known for his hostility to refugees also appears to be inadvertently driving donations.
Liz Beth told us:
I’m donating now as an antidote to [Donald] Trump, but I was going to anyway.
Remember, another way of showing your support for our appeal is to purchase books online from the Guardian Bookshop, which is donating 20p for every book sold for the duration of the appeal.
If you can’t phone in tomorrow, you can donate online to this great cause here.
