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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Elena Cresci , Hannah Jane Parkinson and Emma Howard

The Guardian and Observer charity telethon raises £850k for refugees – as it happened

This year, our charity appeal is raising money for six charities that provide support and assistance for refugees.
This year, our charity appeal is raising money for six charities that provide support and assistance for refugees. Photograph: Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP/Getty Images

Telethon ends with more than £80,000 worth of telephone donations

The Guardian and Observer’s 2015 telethon.
The Guardian and Observer’s 2015 telethon. Photograph: Sophia Evans for the Observer

What a day. Guardian readers have smashed all expectations for today and given generously. Our final total is now at £887,137. Of that our readers have donated £83,319 today.

Our generous readers donated more or less about £10,000 an hour, which is astonishing. Thank you again. The amount of calls we have had from people donating their entire Winter fuel allowance and money put aside for Christmas just shows how much people care about this campaign.

The appeal is far from over. We’ve still got another three weeks to go. You will still be able to donate online, though sadly we won’t be able to put you through to the likes of Polly Toynbee or Owen Jones.

That’s not it for us here at the Guardian – we’ve got a calendar of events running up to the Christmas break. We’re now looking to hit a whopping £1m! We’re not sure if we’ve made that amount before, but it’s certainly one of the most successful appeals of recent years.

I’ll leave you with this testimony from donor Eilidh Hamilton.

I lived for two years with a Syrian family in Damascus in the 90s while learning Arabic. I was welcomed so warmly into the family, the community and by all those I encountered in my 4 years (total) living and working there.

For all the Syrians I met, time was a fluid thing. You were invited for lunch, would stay the day, often even until the next day. Food and conversation would flow. The warmest, nicest people I have ever met - having lived and worked in tens of countries...

At the time there was no great political warmth between our countries, and yet at no time did I ever feel like I was not seen and judged as an individual rather than simply a representative of that, to them ‘foreign’ country or on the basis of my country’s political agenda.

It is my greatest hope that out of the suffering that so many have, and are, experiencing, that some of them at least will experience the warmth of welcome and sense of community in the UK that was given so generously to me there.

We’re all so thrilled at how generous all of our readers have been, thank you so much. One of my colleagues is, as we speak, attempting to solicit a donation from a Tinder match (will update later).

Here’s that photo of Owen Jones and mince pies again:

The telethon has *technically* finished but my colleagues are still on the phones taking your donations. We’ll update you on the final tally once we’re done with those calls.

OH in the newsroom: “Erm yeah all the famous people have left...”

FIVE MINUTES LEFT PEOPLE, KEEP CALLIN’!

OH in the newsroom: “Let’s beat the Telegraph!”

Updated

🙌 Telethon count reaches £80,000 🙌

SCENES! With ten minutes to go, we’ve reached £80k!

So many of you have been calling in. You’ve been donating your Winter fuel allowances, giving your Christmas present allowance – you’ve even donated so you don’t get Guardian Membership promo (looking at you, Piers Morgan). This has been an incredible show of generosity, thank you again!

Yet again, here’s a reminder of who you’re donating your cash to:

Updated

⏰ TEN MINUTES TO GO! ⏰

IT’S THE FINAL COUNTDOWN

(doo doo doo doo, dooo doo dooo doo dooooooo)

Updated

Things are winding down for the telethon, but there’s still time! You’ve got 20 minutes left to call us. Big up to the people who have called us so far:

HALF AN HOUR TO GO.

Keep on calling! The current tally is £870,000. Can we reach £80k in telethon donations by the end of today? I BELIEVE IN YOU.

Updated

The phones are ringing off the hook right now. Again: we’ve had incredible stories from callers. Young, old, those from the UK and all around the world. People who travelled on Kindertransport during the second world war. Calls from Turkey. Kids donating their pocket money, many people donating their entire winter fuel allowance. A donation from Piers Morgan. A big thank you to these people, who have helped to raise more than £70,000 today:

You can call us on 0203 353 4368. There’s been a lot of mulled wine and champagne here in the office. If anything, this is probably the best time to call.

The fabulous Sali Hughes is here answering your calls. Wales for the win!

Meanwhile…

☝️One hour left to donate! ☝️

Ok, all. We have one hour left on the phones. You have already donated an incredible £70,000 today. Thank you. Let’s spread the word and have a 60 minute donation rush! Facebook, Twitter, all of those social media things. #WeStandTogether

The number to call is 0203 353 4368. Or donate online. Here’s Simon Hattenstone drinking mulled wine from a paper cup:

simon hattenstone
Photograph: Sophia Evans for the Observer

Telethon count is now at £70k

It feels like we announced £60k just ten minutes ago! A fantastic and generous effort from our readers. We’ve got an hour left, don’t you dare stop calling.

I mean, I had to tweet SOME sort of dog vine didn’t I?

🎉 WE’VE JUST REACHED £850,000 🎉

I’m not entirely sure there are enough dog vines in the world to express how excited we are right now. This is a huge amount of donations from our readers – thank you, from everyone here in the newsroom, for donating to this cause this year.

This is truly an important campaign and one close to our hearts and our readers’. This testimony from donor Sabrina Chetcuti really hit home for me how much it means:

It’s a small amount I know, but I hope it helps someone through the terror of escaping the death and destruction at home to find some security here.

I arrived in the UK as a babe in arms with my mum and dad when they were evacuated from Suez Crisis in Cairo, December 1956 with the rest of the family including my elderly grandparents.

They didn’t speak English, no winter clothing, no money. The plight of the current refugees find some echoes here but there are some significant differences. When you see people struggle to arrive safely only to find themselves shunned, pushed from one border to another, living in makeshift camps, struggling to survive the cold and wet...my heart goes out to them. It should be so different.

We were lucky, the British people took us under their wing, housed us in a room in an old RAF camp in Stonehouse and offered my father work.

A skilled electrician, he rebuilt our lives. Over the years, my parents have become strong contributors to their community, paying their taxes, employing and teaching, raising funds for charities and passing on their humanity to us, their daughters and our families. Generally enriching our lives and that of anyone else that they have come into contact... they have contributed so much more than they had received nearly 60 years ago.

I look at those frightened families and wish it could be so much better for them.

Updated

We can’t thank you enough for the generous donations that have come in – and from all over the world, too. The money being pledged is going towards six charities to help refugees. Here’s a brilliant piece from Patrick Kingsley who has been covering the refugee crisis for the Guardian for some months now.

Meanwhile, our journalists are still busy taking your calls and donations.

monkey on phone
Photograph: Getty Images

Here’s a piece on one of the five charities we’re supporting: Doctors of the World. They work to help refugees at “the jungle” in Calais with their mental health issues.

This was written back when we were on the £200k mark. How far you have taken us! Thank you again for your kind donations.

Updated

Guardian staff have been taking your calls since 10am this morning, and there’s still an hour and a half left to go! We’ve raised a staggering £60,000 since then – just via phone donations alone. The number to call is: 0203 353 4368. If you are calling from outside the UK, it’s +44 203 353 4368.

Here’s a picture from earlier, courtesy of assistant editor Clare Margetson. That’s parliamentary sketch writer John Crace, columnist Zoe Williams and our chief film critic, Peter Bradshaw.

refugees
#Lads Photograph: Clare Margetson

Updated

We are SO VERY CLOSE to £850,000. Fun fact: we prepped a load of graphics to thank you for your donations but did not anticipate today’s generosity so we’ve run out now. While we work on that, here’s a vine of a dancing dog to get you donating. GO GO GO

THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU LOVELY READERS. Here are some shout outs…

Cheers to Kat Khoury. You’re amazing, Kat. Incredible. Please marry me.

THANK YOU TIM-FROM-LONDON. (Marry me).

Mr. George Wilkinson – you are a king. You are my dream. What’s your position on marriage?

A big hand for Jon Toomey, everybody. {Marry me?}

You have raised £60,000 today alone!

We’ve just smashed through the £60,000 mark! Other highlights from today:

  • a reader would like Owen Jones to chair Question Time. He said “alright” so you never know. Watch out Dimbleby.
  • More and more people have told us they are donating all or part of their Winter fuel allowance. Sue Mullen of Wimbledon is among them, she’s a fan of the paper, the crossword, Polly Toynbee and George Monbiot
  • Morang McDermott of Glasgow got in touch and said a big part of her choice to back our campaign has been Donald Trump’s comments recently. She said: “I was so horrified. It sort of made me feel a bit sick. I just felt I had to do something.”
  • Tony from Macclesfield has given us his £10 Christmas bonus from “that lovely Mr Duncan-Smith” – the first he’s had in 10 years.
  • A man from Slovenia, who is deaf, has just donated £724

Updated

We are VERY close to getting past the £60,000 mark on today’s donations. And we’re also getting closer and closer to the £850,000 mark. Last year, someone called in last minute and donated £40k, so at this point, anything could happen.

RING RING 📞📞📞 0203 353 4368

Here are the six charities we are supporting this year:

They are all doing incredible work. Here’s another reminder of how editor-in-chief Kath Viner introduced our appeal:

Our appeal slogan is We Stand Together: a stand against intolerance, and fear; a stand for empathy and generosity. And a stand for clarity and perspective: as US President Barack Obama said in the aftermath of the Paris attacks, we must not start to equate the issue of refugees with terrorism.

If that sounds like something you can get on board with, please consider donating – even if just a little! Just a reminder that as well as donating by calling o203 353 4368, you can also donate online here. You can read more of the Guardian’s content on the refugee crisis here.

Another of the charities we are supporting is The Red Cross, who have deployed a mobile rescue team to rescue people from the water, distribute survival blankets and provide first aid during this humanitarian crisis.

Head of emergencies for the British Red Cross Ben Webster wrote for us about the situation in Lesbos, at the frontline of the refugee crisis:

It’s hard to find the words to describe just what it’s like on Lesbos. I’ve become accustomed to working around the human suffering that surrounds humanitarian crises, and you learn to deal with it. But Lesbos was different. This is Europe. A holiday destination where tourists find themselves alongside those fleeing for their lives.

Of the 669,000 people to have arrived in Greece this year, 387,340 have arrived on the shores of Lesbos. Syrian refugees are the most ubiquitous. They rub shoulders with Afghans, Iraqis and Eritreans. I met a group of Afghans from the Hazara tribe. They told me that threats had been made against the lives of their families and friends. They showed me photos of people they knew who had been killed – women and children were among them. What choice do they have but to flee?

A caller just mistook Malik for Alan. The news was broken gently.

Columnist Jonathan Freedland is now in the building and taking your calls, as are many, many others. Here’s where your money is going. Also, Owen and mince pies:

Telethon donations reach £50,000 ✨

You know what that means? You have raised £10,000 in under an hour. That is a sterling effort from our readers.

A reminder of who we are raising this money for:

Updated

Features writer Simon Hattenstone, G2 features commissioning editor Nosheen Iqbal and columnist Giles Fraser are here taking your calls on 0203 353 4368. 📲 Look at their lovely faces:

We are extremely close to hitting £50,000k in phone donations. Keep ringing! Tell ‘em Elena sent you. Be nice.

0203 353 4368

Overheard in the neswroom, Giles Fraser shouting: “OWEN JONES, YOU ARE LOVED”.

Big thanks to all of your donations and those tweeting about the appeal. Please use the #WeStandTogether hashtag and we will give you a shout out on the live blog! (Once you’ve donated, obviously).

Piers Morgan was just on the phone!

Hiya Piers 👋

He spoke to Simon Hattenstone and has generously donated £1,005 to the campaign. (the extra fiver was so we wouldn’t send him Guardian Membership stuff, WE DO WHAT WE CAN)

We’ve also had Linda Seymour on the phone who said she and her husband have donated the money they would have spent on presents to each other.

Speaking to my colleagues who have organised our charity appeals over the last few years, it’s clear this has been one of the most successful. The plight of refugees struck a chord with our readers, and further afield. We’ve been asking donors to share their reasons for donating. Here’s what they’ve told us:

I’m donating to the Guardian appeal because I’m horrified that the bombing of Syria will mean even more desperate people fleeing for safety and in need of help. We cannot stand by while hundreds of thousands of people face oncoming winter with so little help and support.

I hope the Red Cross will also look at helping the few thousand of refugees stranded in Calais who are being ignored by our government - it seems they would rather let these people starve than lift a finger to help.

It’s shameful that its only individuals and voluntary groups who are helping to feed, clothe and give shelter to these people who have risked so much to seek sanctuary in Britain, only to be ignored on our very borders.

Fran Postlethwaite

I’ve made a donation to your appeal for refugees because, if I had been born in a war-torn country with little food for my family and constant danger from bombs and bullets, I hope people would help me. It’s not possible to look at pictures of the desperate parents with their children without feeling compassion and wanting to help.

Jacky Jones

So, why did I contribute? Because we just can’t turn a blind eye at this humanitarian crisis. Because I’m embarrassed by a government that isn’t doing enough to help, but is actually doing entirely the opposite by wasting money in a senseless war instead of using it to help innocent people.

Because as a mother I can’t begin to imagine how utterly devastating it must be to leave your home behind and risk it all, just wishing for your children to be able to live a life they deserve.

Because I would like these courageous people to know that whatever they’ve been through to escape isn’t pointless, that there is hope! Because helping the victims is exactly the opposite of what the unnamable idiotic terrorist cult wants. Because if someone comes to your home completely empty handed asking for help, only a selfish, inhumane person would turn them away.

We love to hear the reasons you are supporting this appeal

Anti-FGM campaigner Nimko Ali has been tweeting about why she donated

WWII veteran, activist and Guardian contributor Harry Leslie Smith is also tweeting away

Follow our appeal on twitter with the hashtag #WeStandTogether

Better still give us a call on 0203 353 4368

We’re still hearing plenty of stories from our readers on why they’re donating today. Polly Toynbee spoke to one reader who donated £400 – she had a fundraising party especially to raise money for today’s telethon.

Another reader rang in from Turkey – she is a doctor who lives near the area Alan Kurdi’s family stayed for a while before attempting to make their way to Europe. She donated £500.

Thank you so much for all of your donations. We’re staggered by how much money has come in. To read about where your money is going click here. We have had calls from 16-year-olds, kids donating their pocket money, people who have held parties to fundraise, people who travelled on the Kindertransport during the war.

We’ve already raised a huge £800,000. Our journalists are still here and taking your calls and will be until 6pm. Call us on 0203 3534368.

Here is our features writer and columnist John Harris, and deputy editor of the paper Paul Johnson, taking calls:

Also, special shout out to Anthony McKechnie. Fancy your own shout out? You know what to do: 📞📞📞

⭐️ Telethon raises £40k ⭐️

We have officially doubled the amount from last year’s telethon – readers who have phoned in today have raised £40,180 and counting. This has been a fantastic effort from all involved, from our telephone operators here to you at home. Thanks to everyone who has donated so far.

Overheard in the newsroom: “Don’t tell my boss I just said that”.

Seriously, get all the gossip direct from our journalists. Apparently they’re super indiscreet. 0203 353 4368.

The G2 crew have arrived! Here is deputy features editor, Tim Lusher:

Malik Meer, Nosheen Iqbal and Archie Bland are also here waiting for that $$$. ARCHIE IS ALREADY CAUSING TROUBLE:

There have been some amazing efforts by readers to raise money for this appeal. Our celebrated columnist Polly Toynbee has just taken £400 from David in North London. Last weekend he invited 170 people over to his house for a party in aid of the appeal.

Meanwhile, the lovely Hugh Muir, has been having a chinwag with a neighbour of Bernard Ingham, former spin doctor to Maggie Thatcher, who donated a heroic £500.

Want to speak to a sort-of celebrity here at Guardian HQ? New arrivals now waiting for your calls include deputy editor Paul Johnson, everybody’s favourite vicar Giles Fraser and John Mulholland, editor of the Observer.

Total of donations hits £800,000 🎉

Outstanding effort from our readers as we hit £800,000 of donations.

This makes today the most successful day in the campaign to date. We’ve almost doubled the amount of phone donations from last year’s telethon and are currently at £38,206 in total. Thank you again for all your generosity.

But the day’s not over yet! Keep calling - we’ve got plenty of people here to chat to you and we’re here until 6pm.

📞 0203 353 4368 📞

Updated

We’ve just had another extraordinary story from a caller with experience of the Kindertransport.

John Harris spoke to a woman in Queen’s Park, London, whose grandfather was a refugee from the Nazis and helped organise Kindertransport. The last trip he made was in 1939, when he was warned by the Gestapo not to make another. He later set up a hostel for child refugees.

The caller told John: “Helping refugees is part of my family history.”

John is answering calls now, as are other Guardian journalists. To speak with them and donate, call: 0203 353 4368. You can also donate online.

As we push towards £800,000 donations, another reminder of why we’re doing this.

One of the charities we are supporting is the Migrant Offshore Aid Station (Moas), a charity which has saved 12,000 people who have almost drowned attempting to get to Europe. Patrick Kingsley wrote about them earlier this week.

These are the kinds of people that Moas helps, day in and day out, on the Mediterranean. And the charity is now poised to help many thousands more. On 18 December, Moas will send a new boat to the Aegean sea, to help rescue stricken people – mainly Syrian, Afghan and Iraqi refugees – if they run into difficulty while trying to reach Greece from Turkey. The new boat’s two dinghies will be called Alan and Galip, named for the two Syrian toddlers whose corpses were found face-down on a Turkish beach in early September.

In the coming weeks, the main Moas boat will also begin operating in the Indian Ocean, rescuing the Rohingya refugees who are fleeing genocide in Burma. These are expanded missions that demonstrate how Moas has developed from a family-funded operation, to one increasingly reliant on the generosity of ordinary donors.

“We can’t sustain this mission ourselves in the long term,” says Catrambone, of the initial investment she and Chris put into Moas in 2014. “Two people cannot resolve this situation themselves. One nation cannot solve this situation by itself. Only if we stand together can we find a step-by-step solution.”

Our total in donations is now £791,695. Basically, if we continue on this trajectory, we will easily reach £800,000 by the end of the day. 🎉🎉🎉

KEEP DIALIN’ 📞 0203 353 4368 📞

Updated

Over £30k in telephone donations

A Syrian girl looks behind a window, as a bus transferring her family to a registration centre.
A Syrian girl looks behind a window, as a bus transferring her family to a registration centre. Photograph: Santi Palacios/AP

Another £10k and we will have doubled last year’s telethon total. Thank you again for all your kind donations. As we mentioned earlier, you’ve been telling us why you decided to donate. Here are more of your stories:

I live in New Zealand. But my other home is the UK. I am so privileged that I could choose where I moved to, to suit my needs, my loves.

I paid this donation using my UK credit card that I hold tightly to, even though I have barely any English pounds left, just in case I ever need to travel urgently back to my family in the UK. It’s my other passport.

I don’t earn much in New Zealand but I have a home. I have my son, my partner - they are reading in our big comfy bed as I weep quietly and secretly donate some of the few pounds left. I am so lucky. But for how long?

I donate what I can afford for those people in this story and for humanity as a whole; for dignity, for love, out of fear that it might be my son one day.

Catherine Langford

The plight of the refugees throughout the world has brought home to me just how much we, in the West, take for granted.

If we could imagine being in their shoes for just one day, or just one hour, it would surely rally us to do everything we could to improve their situation. This is a problem that is not going to go away. By donating to the We Stand Together appeal I hope my humble contribution will go some way to restoring dignity and hope to these brave and stoic people and then to sort out their future.

There are people dying, there are people suffering right on our doorstep. Refugees and asylum seekers shouldn’t have to die or suffer because they have been forced to leave their countries. My parents were refugees, we are a multi culture, this is a human crisis and we must open our borders to those who need a refuge.

Ruth Novaczek

The plight of the refugees throughout the world has brought home to me just how much we, in the West, take for granted. If we could imagine being in their shoes for just one day, or just one hour, it would surely rally us to do everything we could to improve their situation. This is a problem that is not going to go away.

By donating to the We Stand Together appeal I hope my humble contribution will go some way to restoring dignity and hope to these brave and stoic people and then to sort out their future.

Gill Smith

Overheard in the newsroom: “I’ve just decided to get drunk”.

We’ve already raised a huge £780,000 for our #WeStandTogether refugee appeal. You can donate by calling 0203 353 4368, and the people taking your calls are bona fide Guardian journalists. ALMOST CELEBRITIES. Kind of. You can also donate online here, but, like, why would you when you could talk to some of the best writers? Here’s a list of everyone taking part.

refugee child

And here’s a selection of Guardian comment on the refugee crisis:

• The media needs to tell the truth on migration, not peddle myths

• What caused the refugee crisis? You asked Google – here’s the answer

• Converts or not, letting them in is the Christian thing to do

• There’s plenty more space for humanity on this ‘tiny’ island

Updated

User avatar for SonOfTheDesert

It's great that you're doing this. But there's still something very... Guardian about liveblogging yourselves.

User avatar for lauraekay Guardian staff

We have to. As C. P. Scott himself famously said in 1872, 'if it isn't liveblogged it didn't happen'.

User avatar for elenacresci Guardian staff

"Comment is free, but live blogging is sacred"

I see no lie.

Updated

#ICYMI:

It’s a rainy Saturday. The wind is whistling through the trees. You’re sat on the couch watching rubbish television. You think about where your life is going. The ennui is stifling. You consider picking up an old copy of Sartre and ruminating on existentialism for a while. Like you did in uni. The dog walks into the room, farts. Scratches. Pootles out again. What is life? Have you even made a difference?

AND THEN YOU CALL TO DONATE AND RAISE MONEY FOR REFUGEES AND YOU REALISE YOU ARE AMAZING: 0203 353 4368.

Updated

We’ve had a request from one Guardian reader in Nunhead: the last memento Mich Maroney (who donated £100) has from her grandmother, who was a refugee during the second world war, is her engagement ring. She’s thinking of selling it in aid of the refugee appeal and wonders if other like-minded Guardian readers would like to do the same. Over to you!

🎉 We've hit £25k in telephone donations 🎉

Phenomenal work and generosity from our readers. Our phones are open until 6pm so if we keep on at this rate, we should be breaking some records for this campaign.

My colleague Amanda Michel, who is not even working today and has a cold, sent over some number crunching and we can tell you:

  • this is the biggest day we’ve had so far, raising just shy of £68,000 between online and phone donations
  • this means if we pass £795,975 today, we will have the biggest day so far in this charity appeal

I think that’s a challenge, don’t you? Call us now on 0203 353 4368

We’ve had yet another reader donate their entire Winter fuel allowance to the campaign - £200 in total from a generous reader in Monmouth. Further proof, as if we needed it, that Wales is the best country in the world.

(kinda biased because I’m Welsh but shhh)

🚨 CUTEST DONATION ALERT 🚨 : John Harris of Anywhere But Westminster fame has popped over to tell us 13-year-old Milo from London has donated two weeks’ pocket money as a present for his mum. Hopefully we’re not ruining the surprise...

Updated

Bit harsh, Archie. Call him to tell him to be nicer to Nosheen.

Here is our parliamentary sketch writer and all round good guy John Crace, ready to take your donations (“Hannah, which is my best side?”):

And Hugh Muir, leader writer and columnist, is also READY FOR DAT DOLLAR (“I have been asked to hold this up, I have no idea what it says”):

Feature writer and columnist, Gary Younge, WHO JUST STRAIGHT UP NAILED THE VINE. Here’s how to do it, guys:

Updated

Incredible scenes:

OH in the newsroom: “Hannah, when you knocked over that bin it was like something out of Mr Bean.”

Also: “Journalists have no practical skills.”

Updated

So, during last year’s charity telethon, lots of us wore Christmas jumpers. Our fashion editor Jess Cartner-Morley even wore sparkly Christmas shoes. This year, I am apparently THE ONLY ONE who has bothered. The appeal is literally called #WeStandTogether. Anyway, here is my solo effort. A shiny robin:

(Just realised it looks like I have a red goatee in the above photo but I’m going with it). GIVE US YOUR CASH: 0203 353 4368.

Phone donations over £20,000

That brings our grand total to £764,572, thank you so much. To put that in context – £20k is the amount we raised over the whole day of last year’s telethon. Can we double that?

Updated

John Domokos, who produced this fantastic film about a Syrian family’s journey to Europe, has just taken his first call and netted a £1,000 donation from a caller in Leamington.

Guardian staff are still busy taking your calls, and we will be until 6pm tonight. Live newsroom footage below (John Crace is the one at the back sniffing the floor):

I can currently overhear journalists comparing how much they’ve each raised. Perhaps we should make this a competition...

A few tidbits from the newsroom:

  • Andrew Sparrow, of politics live blog fame, has been in such high demand, he’s had to hop from telephone to telephone to chat to our readers
  • Patrick Kingsley, our migration correspondent, called in from Jordan to donate
  • I, Elena Cresci, idiot extraordinaire, have managed to scald my arm with hot tea for the second time this year
  • Jane Dudman, editor of the public leaders and housing networks, took £50 from a pensioner on the Isle of Skye, who said the weather’s really nice over that way

Thanks so much for all of your kind donations. The money everyone is generously donating is really needed. Our editor-in-chief, Kath Viner, just came over to say she has taken a call from a woman who travelled on the Kindertransport – when the UK took in approximately 10,000 Jewish children during the second world war. As Kath wrote in her appeal, how we respond to refugee crises is “a test of our values, our spirit, our ingenuity, our generosity.”

To learn more about the appeal and where your money is going, here our some links to our charity blog content:

• Guardian charity appeal donors: ‘We can’t stand by and do nothing’

•Life as a Red Cross worker on the refugee frontline: ‘We lived through a war too’

• The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre: providing vital help and moral support for new arrivals

And to learn even more about the individual charities we are supporting, click here. Our number to call is: 0203 353 4368.

Phone donations over £15k

Currently, our hardworking telephone operators have taken £15,400 of your generous donations. As a reward, here are some pugs in a sleigh.

Introducing Robyn, and also Herbie – the youngest member of the #WeStandTogether appeal team. You can talk to him on: 0203 353 4368. I don’t even know if there’s a better incentive to call than that.

We have just hit £750,000 in donations

Afghan refugee girls embrace each other shortly after arriving on a dinghy from the Turkish coast to the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos.
Afghan refugee girls embrace each other shortly after arriving on a dinghy from the Turkish coast to the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos. Photograph: Muhammed Muheisen/AP

Our phone lines have only been open for an hour and a half, but we have just passed the £750,000 mark in donations. This is just phenomenal, thank you for your generosity.

As you’ve been donating, our donors have been telling us why this campaign has moved them to donate in their hundreds and thousands. Here are some of their stories.

The current refugee crisis is massive. Immense. It’s too big to comprehend in anything other than statistics. But they are people, kind and cruel, shy and aggressive, young and old, just like the people I know, just like those of any other nation or religion in history.

I have more than I need to survive. I worked hard for that, but I didn’t work harder than the people who don’t have enough. I deserve to be safe, to be warm, to be fed. So do they. They don’t deserve this.

Virginia Sutherland

When I lie in my comfortable bed at night, in my modest house safe from the elements, I wish everyone could have the same for themselves and their families.

Daphne Charles

My support for refugees fleeing murderous mayhem is based simply on the idea of ‘civilised humanity’.

My notion of this has been forged by my own Mother’s story. In 1945 she was a refugee aged 20 having fled her homeland in Ukraine in the face of swingeing Red Army retribution.

She was given sanctuary in Britain along with many other East European displaced people. Later as a single mother she was able to place me into a Dr Barnardo’s home while she studied English and trained to become a State Registered Midwife by the age of 29. Today, of course, Barnardo’s is my favourite charity.

My mother died this year aged 91. Still resolute and clever, her vocabulary better than most and tinged with a dulcet accent. Still beautiful, her youthful blues eyes belying her age. Still generous and selfless. Her legacy is her 3 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren. My good fortune was my Mother given refuge by the civilised humanity of Britain. Long may we continue to be renowned for this virtue.

Stephen Millett

Updated

THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF IS IN THE BUILDING! KATH VINER HERSELF

Kath has arrived. Here is the proof:

Call her: 0203 353 4368. She has a lovely phone manner. They all do. We have so many journalists here ready to take your calls, including: Zoe Williams, John Crace, Stuart Heritage, Esther Addley … and loads more.

Updated

We are *achingly* close to the £750,000 mark. SO CLOSE.

Telephone donations are currently at £13,800.

Here are some messages from Clare Margetson, Esther Addley and Stuart Heritage, urging you to call. Make them happy. Look at their little faces: 0203 353 4368.

Updated

Stuart Heritage nipped over to tell us about a wonderful call he’s had from one of our readers.

16 year-old Sam Miller from Reading called in to donate and also told us he’s been raising money for refugees at his school - so far, he’s raised £5,000! Top notch work Sam, keep at it!

We have raised £10,000!

We are as excited as this puppy playing in the snow for the first time.

Thank you so much for your generosity! That brings our total up to £745,266! WE ARE SO CLOSE TO £750,000. DO NOT STOP CALLING.

Updated

Your donations so far have been astounding. Thank you so much. This is what our journalists are busy doing so far. CALL THEM NOW: 0203 353 4368

Updated

In the midst of all the excitement (and chocolate, I’ve had a lot of chocolate) it’s easy to forget exactly why we’re here today.

Two sisters from Syria play on a beach near the town of Mytilene after crossing a part of the Aegean sea on a dinghy.
Two sisters from Syria play on a beach near the town of Mytilene after crossing a part of the Aegean sea on a dinghy. Photograph: Santi Palacios/AP

Over the last year we have seen an unprecedented amount of people flee from the war in Syria. Over the Summer, we have seen countless images of desperate refugees trying everything they can to find somewhere safe. Many of them have paid a high price.

Our editor Katherine Viner put it best in her piece outlining this year’s campaign:

We have chosen refugees as our theme this year not just to raise money for a vital humanitarian cause but as an act of solidarity. Our appeal slogan is We Stand Together: a stand against intolerance, and fear; a stand for empathy and generosity. And a stand for clarity and perspective: as US President Barack Obama said in the aftermath of the Paris attacks, we must not start to equate the issue of refugees with terrorism.

A reminder of the charities we are supporting:

We’re achingly close to £10,000 for phone donations! Keep calling! Call 0203 353 4368!

Updated

Overheard in the newsroom: “Can I just say that I’m working much harder than last year?”

Make our Guardian journalists work even harder. They are so competitive on the phones, it’s brilliant to watch: 0203 353 4368

More and more of you are calling – thank you so much for your donations. A few highlights:

  • We have passed the £9,000 mark for telephone donations
  • Many people are ringing in and donating their entire Winter fuel allowance
  • One caller donated £400 – the amount they would usually spend on Christmas presents.

KEEP CALLING. DON’T LET THEM SLACK FOR A SECOND.

Call 0203 353 4368!

Updated

Overheard in the newsroom: “My mum has sent a cheque, she said”. A likely story.

Your donations are coming in thick and fast. We are very, very grateful.

Updated

What he said.

So if you’ve just donated and you’re wondering why the total isn’t updating as quickly as anticipated, it’s because you are donating SO MUCH I can barely keep up with you. It’s alright though, keeps me on my toes. Keep going! We’re here to take your money! GIVE US YOUR MONEY.

Right now, phone donations are at £7,762. THE PHONES ONLY OPENED AT 10.

Star columnist Zoe Williams has arrived! “Oh hi, Hannah! I was in the building yesterday. I was going to invite you for coffee. But then I didn’t”.

THANKS ZOE.

Call her to tell her off: 0203 353 4368

charity telethon 2015
Our journalists taking your calls at the charity telethon. Photograph: Elena Cresci

As I type, the banks we have assigned to today’s telethon are completely full and almost everyone is on the phone. I’m told by one of my colleagues, who has been organising the charity telethon for the last five years, that she has never seen the phones this busy. Let’s make them busier! Keep calling!

Updated

Just a quick reminder that last year a single individual donated £40,000 to our appeal. Imagine! £40,000! Not that you should feel you have to do the same! But also, how amazing would it be if you did!

We have taken £5,000 in donations this morning alone!

Thanks to all our wonderfully generous readers, all across the globe, for your donations this morning. To pass £5,000 in donations in HALF AN HOUR is exceptional. The total raised so far is over £730,000.

Just a quick reminder of the charities we’re helping out this year:

Updated

As my colleagues take your calls, they’ve also been feeding back some of your stories of why you’re donating.

Clare Margetson popped over to tell me one caller from York donated £200 telling her the whole family had decided against Christmas presents this year, choosing instead to donate it all to charity. Stellar work!

And your donations are coming in so quickly, by the time I’ve written another post, it’s gone up an extra £1,000! We’re now at the £4,800 mark for phone donations today, bringing our grand total to £732,840.

I admit to the bin incident.

So it is *checks clock* only just gone 10.20 and have a guess how much we’ve raised on the phones so far.

Go on.

Ok, fine, I’ll tell you. A whopping £3,043!

As I typed that, Hannah knocked over a recycling bin – we are all extremely excited.

Updated

OH in the newsroom: “If anybody asks, we’re all Polly Toynbee - it works!”

Hello! I’ve just joined my esteemed colleague Elena on the blog for today’s #WeStandTogether Christmas appeal. The lines have been opened for just 13 minutes and we have already raised around £2,000.

I have also already overheard someone on the phone saying: “Ok, well, if you pop in the shower then. And give us a call back afterwards”. So there’s that.

So there I was, launching the blog a little early because I reckoned we’d have a bit of time to settle in, but our readers are clearly EXTREMELY excited today and we’ve already had our first donation. YOU LOT ARE SPEEDY.

Huge thanks to former trade unionist Joan Mitchell who donated £50 and said: “The Guardian is up there with the angels.” We swear, we’re not paying anyone to be so lovely.

Good morning and welcome to live coverage of the Guardian and Observer’s charity telethon, hurrah! Our team, made up of my esteemed colleagues from across the Guardian and Observer, are ready to take their places at the phones to chat to you, our readers – and get those all-important donations.

Our cause this year is one you won’t have missed: the refugee crisis has dominated 2015. It’s a cause which truly has struck a chord with our readers who have been donating hundreds and thousands of pounds as a gesture of empathy and solidarity with refugees.

We’re in a festive cheer this morning because we hit the £700,000 mark yesterday. As of this morning, we are over £720,000.

Thank you so much for your donations so far. And now, we issue you with a challenge: over the course of the day, can we make it to £750,000?

Call 0203 353 4368 between 10am and 6pm to talk to ou journalists and donate to the appeal. You can also donate online.

The lines open at 10am. I’ll be joined by my colleagues Hannah Jane Parkinson and Emma Howard to capture all of today’s action.

It’s up to you now: give all you can! Chat to our journalists! Let’s get to £750,000!

Updated

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