He said: "Londoners’ overwhelming response to the Evening Standard’s rallying call for The Dispossessed has been truly heartening and extraordinary. Your widespread generosity reflects the ethos of this campaign — that fighting poverty, in every form, is a challenge that we must all rise to meet. As the patron of Centrepoint, one of this country’s leading homelessness charities for young people, I know just how devastating a lack of hope can be for individuals, and for the communities around them. The Dispossessed Fund now exceeds £5 million, which is an amazing achievement. Your money will enormously help the local heroes who work tirelessly to lift people out of the grinding poverty that can blight our great capital. The money will restore hope and dignity to so many people. The work is far from over. There are still four children out of every 10 living below the poverty line here, in one of the richest cities in the world — a fact that is as shocking as it is unacceptable. But, so many congratulations on all your tremendous support so far."
David Cameron said: "This is a remarkable milestone in a campaign that is already changing the lives of people for the better."
The Evening Standard’s Dispossessed Fund has now topped £5 million. The achievement blows away the original target of £1 million when the fund was launched five months ago with the aim of tackling the pockets of misery and hopelessness that disfigure our wealthy capital.
Geordie Greig (pictured), Editor of the London Evening Standard, said: "It is very moving to see such generosity from our readers help the most vulnerable people in London. The scale of giving has been extraordinary, as Prince William has noted in his salute to the Dispossessed campaign. We are so proud to have raised more than £5m, more money from a newspaper charity appeal than ever before outside of campaigns for natural disasters or war."
The campaign deliberately focuses help through very small community-based projects to achieve results where Whitehall’s long arm often fails to reach.
The fund is to be a permanent asset to London. Every penny will go to inspirational local charities that seek out Londoners who need and deserve aid to transform their lives with effective, practical help.
People such as Nabil Ahmed who was orphaned at 15 when he was about to tackle his GCSEs and put aside his own ambitions to care for his two disabled brothers. Nabil’s story could easily have ended in despair and abject poverty if he had not been found by City Gateway, a Tower Hamlets charity that helps give excluded Londoners training to get into work. Now 18, he has a job with RBS and a bright future.
A grant of £9,691 to the Aspire Foundation will enable 20 homeless people to launch their own businesses. People who were down and out will take control of their own destinies.
Another grant from the fund, of £10,000, is ensuring that 100 people, including migrant workers, former offenders and the homeless, get a daily hot meal, life skills and help into work though a frontline charity called Upper Room in Hammersmith.
David Cameron said: “This is a remarkable milestone in a campaign that is already changing the lives of people for the better and tackling extreme poverty in our capital city. The Government is proud to have matched the generous donations by readers of the Evening Standard, knowing that every penny will go to community-based schemes that give people the means to help themselves and to help others.”
