# Charity Christmas Appeal totals: the round up - Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2020/01/29/charity-christmas-appeal-totals-the-round-up/ - Published: 2020-01-29T09:50:49+00:00 - Author: Melanie May **Christmas 2019 proved to be record-breaking for a number of festive charity appeals, including BookTrust and the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity. Here’s a round up of some of the totals.**   [⌊BookTrust⌉](https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.cloud/2020/01/image001-4-e1580285355142.png) #### BookTrust Christmas Appeal raised £47,000 over target amount Donations to [BookTrust](https://www.booktrust.org.uk/)’s Christmas fundraising appeal raised a record £240,000: £47,000 over the target amount. ## Advertisement [⌊Posthub advert. You create the campaign. We'll handle the postal journey. Get started at post-hub.co.uk.⌉](https://fundraising.co.uk/ads/posthub-20261007-300x250/) The campaign launched on 4 November, and Giving Tuesday and the day after saw BookTrust receive a record 1,653 donations in just those two days. The festive appeal forms part of the charity’s Letterbox project, which sends book parcels out to children who are vulnerable or in care. Children across the UK are enrolled for the club by local authorities and schools. Each receives a parcel of books, maths games, stationery and other high-quality materials once every month for six months, from May to October. BookTrust called on the public to donate £10 to donate a special book parcel and brighten up a child’s Christmas. Over 8,000 people made donations to the appeal and 12,480 parcels were delivered to the children. BookTrust chose six hardback books for children aged 3-13. Each parcel contains one book, a letter from award winning author and current Waterstone’s Children’s Laureate Cressida Cowell, a poster and bookmark created by Neal Layton, and a postcard. Diana Gerald, BookTrust CEO, said_:_ > “We’re absolutely thrilled by the support from the public and thanks to so many > generous donations, we have been able to send a festive gift of a book to each > of the 12,250 children in our 2019 Letterbox programme. We would like to thank > everyone who donated and helped to light up Christmas for so many children who > are vulnerable or in care with the gift of a story.”   #### 󠀁[⌊Celebrate a Life 2019⌉⌊Celebrate a Life 2019⌉󠀁[The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity celebrates festive fundraising milestone The [Royal Marsden Cancer Charity](https://www.royalmarsden.org/)’s Christmas campaign raised over £103,000, it has announced – a new high for the charity. The ‘Celebrate a Life’ annual campaign encourages supporters to make a donation and have a name of their choice written on a star and hung on one of the Christmas trees outside the hospitals in Chelsea and Sutton during December. This Christmas there were more stars on the trees than ever before with over 3,000 being named. Supporters chose to dedicate stars for many different reasons including in memory of someone special, to say thank you to a member of staff who supported them at the hospital, or just to celebrate themselves or the people in their lives.  Now in its 16^(th) year, Celebrate a Life sees two carol services take place in December where supporters can come to the hospital and sing carols alongside a choir, watch the Christmas tree light switch on and find their special star on the tree. Money raised from Celebrate a Life helps to fund state-of-the-art equipment, research, and a range of other initiatives at The Royal Marsden.  The campaign has grown substantially over the years and has more than doubled the amount it has raised since 2012. Antonia Dalmahoy, Managing Director of The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, said: > “It was humbling to see the thousands of stars across the Christmas trees each > shining brightly for a life that has been touched by cancer. Celebrate a Life > is such a special occasion for patients, their loved ones, our supporters and > staff, and every star named is helping us make a vital difference.  I’m extremely > proud of this fantastic fundraising total which means we can continue to support > The Royal Marsden’s exceptional work.”   **More Christmas appeal totals: in tweets** > Thank you to all those who donated to the Guardian and Observer 2019 charity appeal > which has now raised over £1m to support tree planting and protection around the > world. [https://t.co/tHDx9eHryH](https://t.co/tHDx9eHryH) > — Trees for Life (@treesforlifeuk) [January 17, 2020](https://twitter.com/treesforlifeuk/status/1218189235380981760?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) #### Guardian & Observer Christmas Appeal The Guardian and Observer 2019 charity appeal has raised more than £1m in support of projects that aim to plant and protect trees, woodlands and rainforest. More than 13,000 readers donated an average of £75 each. The money will be shared between [Woodland Trust](https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/), [Trees for Life](https://treesforlife.org.uk/), [Trees for Cities ](https://www.treesforcities.org/)and [Global Greengrants Fund UK](https://www.greengrants.org/who-we-are/global-greengrants-fund-uk/), and spent on initiatives promoting social and climate justice through natural climate solutions.   > One last push! We have been awed by readers’ generosity in our appeal to help > England’s most deprived youngsters. But they are still in need [#STXmasAppeal](https://twitter.com/hashtag/STXmasAppeal?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) > [https://t.co/pfdLEzMz8t](https://t.co/pfdLEzMz8t) > — Times Politics (@timespolitics) [January 5, 2020](https://twitter.com/timespolitics/status/1213861223294476289?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) #### Sunday Times Charity Appeal The Sunday Times Charity Appeal has raised more than £1.2million from cheques, Just Giving donations and Gift Aid to date. The campaign for the [Education Endowment Foundation](https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/) is aimed at helping families in some of the UK’s by providing support throughout the holidays, including keeping schools open, and funding day trips and expeditions that boost learning.   > A heartfelt 'thank you' to everyone who has contributed to our Christmas Appeal > which raised over £18,300. 👏❤️👏 Without you we would not be there for our families > not only at Christmas time but all year round. > If you still wish to donate, visit > [https://t.co/HdtbT3xpen](https://t.co/HdtbT3xpen) [pic.twitter.com/XkdMCspe6u](https://t.co/XkdMCspe6u) > — Helen & Douglas House (@HelenAndDouglas) [January 28, 2020](https://twitter.com/HelenAndDouglas/status/1222102044523335680?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) > Our Christmas Appeal is just £2,700 away from raising an amazing £50,000! Thank > you so much to everyone who has donated so far. If you’ve yet to donate, then > please consider doing so today and help us make this our most successful Christmas > Appeal EVER! [https://t.co/8IjhsCauvf](https://t.co/8IjhsCauvf) [pic.twitter.com/8GAYhP97tn](https://t.co/8GAYhP97tn) > — Habitat for Humanity GB (@HabitatFHGB) [January 21, 2020](https://twitter.com/HabitatFHGB/status/1219582953585618945?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) > Thanks to amazing people like you, we raised over £85k for our Christmas appeal. > Research, like the study Laura is part of, can only take place because of the > support you give. > Your gift holds the power to change lives. [pic.twitter.com/wMUnAS3BFW](https://t.co/wMUnAS3BFW) > — Alzheimer's Research UK (@AlzResearchUK) [January 16, 2020](https://twitter.com/AlzResearchUK/status/1217876923625476103?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) > Thank you so much to everyone who made the 2019 Christmas Appeal the most successful > appeal yet! Big thanks to @TheAlchemistUK MediaCity for generously supporting > through adding £1 to the bill throughout December. > More info: [https://t.co/kuhcyxfJCr](https://t.co/kuhcyxfJCr) > [pic.twitter.com/Q4l3KqPPE8](https://t.co/Q4l3KqPPE8) > — The Lowry (@The_Lowry) [January 14, 2020](https://twitter.com/The_Lowry/status/1217135558931206146?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) > As 2020 dawns, we want to thank every single Glass Door supporter. We look back > at our Christmas Appeal which raise a record £60,000 this year and share some > of the messages which inspired us. Happy New Year everyone! [#volunteer](https://twitter.com/hashtag/volunteer?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) > [#support](https://twitter.com/hashtag/support?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) [#newyear](https://twitter.com/hashtag/newyear?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) > [pic.twitter.com/szDD92wmsm](https://t.co/szDD92wmsm) > — Glass Door Homeless Charity (@GlassDoorLondon) [January 1, 2020](https://twitter.com/GlassDoorLondon/status/1212312611506790401?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) > Our Christmas Appeal has now ended and we would like to extend a huge thank you > to our donors, audiences and visitors for supporting the Appeal. > We’re delighted > to announce that the Appeal raised an incredible £22,544.08 through donations > and collections…1/2 [pic.twitter.com/QSavxTfsUv](https://t.co/QSavxTfsUv) > — Theatre by the Lake (@tbtlake) [January 27, 2020](https://twitter.com/tbtlake/status/1221786098931625986?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) > Thank you to everyone who took part in our Christmas Appeal. In the end we raised > over £30k! Your generosity helps us rescue, rehome, and reunite cats and dogs > across Edinburgh and the Lothian. 🐾 [https://t.co/o9PCOiSXTk](https://t.co/o9PCOiSXTk) > — Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home (@EdinDogCatHome) [January 25, 2020](https://twitter.com/EdinDogCatHome/status/1221104695906840582?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) > We'd like to say a massive THANK YOU to all our supporters who liked, shared & > donated to our Christmas appeal featuring John and Pamela Burns. > We're delighted > to tell you we raised £5,000! This will go a long way to supporting more people > like the Burns family[#CharityNewsDay](https://twitter.com/hashtag/CharityNewsDay?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) > [pic.twitter.com/k4Xe76KLT5](https://t.co/k4Xe76KLT5) > — Cancer Support Scotland (@CancerSuppScot) [January 28, 2020](https://twitter.com/CancerSuppScot/status/1222156156946337795?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)   Main image: Deborah James, a patient at The Royal Marsden who took part in Celebrate a Life * **[Average household Christmas spend set to drop but some areas of UK plan an increase](https://fundraising.co.uk/2020/11/26/average-household-christmas-spend-set-to-drop-but-some-areas-of-uk-plan-an-increase/)**( 26 November 2020) * **[Charities, businesses & volunteers combine to bring Christmas to London’s vulnerable](https://fundraising.co.uk/2020/12/08/charities-businesses-volunteers-combine-bring-christmas-londons-vulnerable/)**( 8 December 2020) * **[In Kind Direct appeals for Real Christmas Must Haves](https://fundraising.co.uk/2021/11/08/in-kind-direct-appeals-for-real-christmas-must-haves/)**( 8 November 2021) ![Loading](https://fundraising.co.uk/wp-content/plugins/page-views-count/ajax-loader- 2x.gif)