Today we look recap on the festive season so far including the progress of our On The Breadline campaign, the Indy Women’s Festive Feast and an inspiring evening of conversation at the Choose Love store.
From all of us here at The Independent we wish you a happy and healthy Christmas and New Year, and we look forward to a prosperous 2023 with you all.
The Independent and Evening Standard’s ‘On The Breadline’ Christmas Appeal has now raised more than £3.3 million since its launch just four weeks ago. Partnering with Comic Relief and The Childhood Trust, the publications have been campaigning to support those most affected by the cost-of-living crisis by delivering vital funds to a range of community organisations and projects across the UK. We are grateful for major donors, including Amazon, British Airways, Sainsbury’s, Ebay, Neptune Energy, TK Maxx, the TK Maxx and Homesense Foundation and the Westminster Foundation. The news comes as more celebrities including the Princess of Wales, Sir Andy Murray and Dame Emma Thompson joined Comic Relief co-founder Lenny Henry and BBC Radio 2 DJ Sara Cox in lending their support to our campaign.
If you can, please donate to On The Breadline by visiting the Comic Relief campaign page. You can show your support by tweeting the hashtag #onthebreadline.
Click here to read a full overview of how the campaign is progressing so far.
Last Friday saw the return of the Indy Women’s Festive Feast, which brings together individuals from across the media and creative landscapes to celebrate the immense talent that women bring to these fields. The White City Soho House event was kicked off by a welcome address from Independent Ignite’s Commercial Content Director, Emma Elford, and Group Head, Jeanette Walker. We also heard from The Independent’s Olivia Petter who gave a round up of her favourite stories from 2022 written for, by and about women. The festive mood was kept high by DJ Sophie Lloyd and performances by the heavenly London Community Gospel Choir, with everyone in attendance joining them in song. Thank you to all those who attended and helped make the event as wonderful as it was.
Also on Friday, The Independent hosted Words Matter – a powerful panel on the importance of language used around displaced people and the challenges that they face. The panellists discussed how governments need to be held to account for inciting hatred and how media outlets and the public have a responsibility to do their own research to share an authentic narrative rather than just furthering misinformation.
Panellists included The Independent’s Home Affairs Editor Lizzie Dearden and Voices Editor Victoria Richards alongside Amna Founder Zarlasht Halaimzai and Choose Love Creative Director Hassan Akkad. Choose Love’s Director of Partnerships Philli Boyle moderated the important discussion which was hosted at the Choose Love store just off Carnaby Street.
The talk was recorded and will be hosted on our platforms soon.
For more information on Choose Love visit its website and if you are in London please do take a moment to visit the popup store that will remain on Foubert’s Place throughout December. You’ll be able to buy products for refugees, merchandise to show your support and read a load of information on the work that Choose Love does.
Last night saw two big wins for Independent journalists at the Press Gazette British Journalism Awards in London. First up was The Independent’s Health Correspondent Rebecca Thomas who took home the award in the Health and Life Sciences Journalism category with the judges noting her “proper revelatory journalism, praised by health professionals and benefiting the public”. And hot on her heels was The Independent’s Travel Correspondent Simon Calder who took home the award in the Travel Journalism category who the judges said was “a fantastic consumer champion who led the way on all the big travel stories over the last year”. Big congratulations to both Rebecca and Simon!
