Brits taking part in tonight’s Clap for our Carers are also being urged to donate in a new initiative aiming to raise at least £5million for NHS workers.
The #OneMillionClaps appeal will be launched tonight when people once again stand at their front doors and windows to applaud key workers helping in the coronavirus pandemic.
NHS Charities Together (NHSCT) is asking people to text “clap” to 70507 to give £5, along with a message of support for nurses, doctors, staff and volunteers.
Organisers hope that if 1million people take part in the appeal tonight, then they’ll raise at least £5million on the same evening as the third Clap for our Carers.
The money will go towards providing food, travel, accommodation and counselling to NHS staff and volunteers who continue to work during the crisis.
Entertainer and writer David Walliams has voiced a short film promoting the campaign, which also features a new version of Queen’s anthem, We Will Rock You.
New lyrics for the amended version of the song include “NHS, we love you; We say, we say, thank you”.
Ellie Orton, chief executive of NHS Charities Together - an umbrella organisation for 140 NHS charities across the UK - said: “Every single penny raised for nurses, doctors and NHS staff in this way will go to help those health service workers who are working so hard and risking so much to help us.
“Thousands of staff are risking their lives every day for us and many of them are now sick themselves or at breaking point.
“I really hope #OneMillionClaps inspires those who can to give a donation that will make a real difference to the amazing staff and volunteers who are daily saving lives and battling against this horribly virus on our behalf.
“If we can raise £5 million tonight, it will go a long way to providing them and their families with the support they so desperately need.”
The initiative is being launched on the third clap for carers, which takes place at 8pm on Thursday.
Initially started to applaud NHS doctors and nurses, it’s since been expanded to include all key workers.
One Million Claps comes a day after Premier League footballers announced the creation of their “Players Together” fund to raise money for the NHS.
£4million has already been paid in, including £1.5million from the Professional Footballers’ Association, while players are making personal donations as well as further contributions from their monthly salaries.
A statement shared by numerous footballers on social media said: “"The contributions that this initiative will generate will help NHSCT quickly grant funds to the front line to support in a number of ways, including to help enhance the well-being of NHS staff, volunteers and patients impacted by COVID-19 as well as helping them in their work supporting many other critical areas of need both now and in the longer term.
"#PlayersTogether is about we, as players, collaborating together to create a voluntary initiative, separate to any other club and league conversations, to help get much needed funds to those that need it right now. To try and help, along with so many others in the country, make a real difference.”
