Guardian readers pledge £20,000 in Christmas appeal telethon

The Kidstime Foundation, a charity that supports children and young people affected by the mental illness of a parent or sibling, and one of the Guardian and Observer’s nine Christmas Appeal beneficiaries. Photograph: Kidstime

This weekend’s Guardian and Observer Christmas charity appeal telethon raised more than £20,000 for our featured mental health charities.

More than 50 journalists and staff took phone calls from readers, who pledged over £17,000 in the course of eight hours on Saturday. With Gift Aid, the day’s donations amounted to more than £20,000.

Guardian writers taking part in the telethon included Polly Toynbee, Peter Bradshaw, Jess Cartner-Morley, Giles Fraser, Stuart Heritage and Owen Jones. They were joined by Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty. The appeal, which continues until mid-January, has currently raised well over £100,000 in just a fortnight.

The nine mental health charities are: Mind, Rethink Mental Illness, Centre for Mental Health, Gardening Leave, the Kidstime Foundation, Samaritans, MAC-UK, CoolTan Arts and Star Wards.

Launching the appeal, the Guardian’s editor-in-chief, Alan Rusbridger, wrote: “Each [charity] offers innovative services in their particular areas of expertise, but all have a common mission, which is one we as a media organisation share: to challenge stigma and create more positive societal attitudes towards mental illness.”

Readers can donate to the appeal via the Guardian website or by phone on 0151 284 2016.