This has been matched by the government, which has also made available an extra £1m from their Grassroots project.
It will allow £1m to be distributed to the capital’s charities within weeks. The fund is being handled by the Community Foundation Network who will distribute cash in five areas: education; getting people into work; tackling gangs, guns and knife crime; improving health; and other issues such as homelessness, pensioner hardship and the working poor.
The remaining funds will then be used to create a permanent fund to help London’s dispossessed.
The fund was launched on July 20 in response to a shocking series of articles that highlighted the plight of the city’s poorest people - London’s Dispossessed. Today's milestone came as Fulham Football Club today became the latest Premier League team to back the Standard’s campaign. Chairman Mohamed Al Fayed and the players donated £80,000 to the Dispossessed fund after being moved by the stories of poverty in London.
Prime Minister David Cameron today hailed the latest achievement for the campaign. “This is fantastic news and far exceeds the original target that the Evening Standard set for itself and its readers,” he said. “For our part, the Government is proud to have matched the donations given by readers, knowing that every penny will go towards tackling extreme poverty and creating the kind of society that we all hope for, where people have the means to help themselves and to help others. I hope the Fund for the Dispossessed can now go forward to hit the £5 million mark and become a permanent feature in our capital city.”
Stephen Hammersley, chief executive of the Community Foundation Network, which is administering the fund said: “The Dispossessed fund is absolutely unique. What the Standard has achieved is a permanent fund that will focus on the organisations that matter most, and really are profoundly changing people’s lives.”
Evening Standard editor Geordie Greig said today: "Raising £4.5m for the Dispossessed Fund for the poorest people of London reflects the staggering generosity of Londoners. This is a significant day for the Evening Standard breaking all records for a newspaper charity appeal unconnected to wars or natural disasters. It has been very moving to see schoolchildren, pensioners, tycoons, sports stars and thousands of Standard readers unite to send a positive message about their desire to help those less fortunate to have a chance to better their lives. Everyone on the paper has been moved by the unprecedented kindness of so many Londoners."
