Our Help The Hungry appeal has raised more than £10m – thank you for all your support

Christmas is the traditional time to think of others, to give, and to offer thanks. So it is entirely appropriate for The Independent to thank its readers for their support in this year’s Help The Hungry appeal – and specifically for the £10m you have helped to raise. It is an awesome sum and, as the many stories we have run illustrate, will make a huge difference to families, and particularly children, who too often have to go without.  

In March, as the terrifying scale of the coronavirus pandemic was becoming clear, The Independent and its sibling title the Evening Standard identified food poverty as one of the key challenges that would emerge. Or rather, the intensification of food poverty, which has been a social evil for so long, and stubbornly persists even as society has grown richer.

Partnering with The Felix Project, a relatively new charity, we have sought to not only deliver food to places where it can be distributed effectively, but to deliver food that is fresh and nutritious. The impact of the campaign has been remarkable. In February, The Felix Project distributed 20,000 meals per day; now it delivers 100,000 per day. 

There are many “gaps” in the system, and while food banks do an excellent job in providing packaged and preserved food, such as dried pasta and cereals, there is more that can and should be done with perishable bread, fruit and vegetables, for example.  

Some bigger gaps, such as only partial provision of free school meals, have been highlighted by Marcus Rashford’s inspirational campaign. No food charity, or even the whole sector, can possibly replicate the power of the Treasury and local government to reach those children and give them at least one wholesome meal a day. The Independent was proud to back Mr Rashford’s success in making the government think again, and credit should be given to ministers for a U-turn that did a lot of good.  

At a time, too, when the hospitality sector has itself faced unprecedented hardship, it is also heartening that so many restaurants and others offered practical help and expertise, and that so many performers turned out for a superb fund-raising concert in November. Once again, the pandemic brought out the best in people.  

The Independent has long been a campaigning organisation, not least for the European cause which has also been so disfiguring of society these past few years. We have raised money for environmental charities, such as Space for Giants, and for Unicef’s work with former child soldiers in Africa, to name a couple. This year, in a country locked down and where Covid has hit the poorest hardest, it seemed right to focus on domestic hardship. At an average rate of some £1m per month, our audiences have responded with unprecedented generosity to our appeal.

Once again, thank you.