In a year marked by social unrest and the rise of extremist rhetoric, the Guardian’s 2025 charity appeal offers a glimmer of hope. The appeal is supporting grassroots organisations that are working tirelessly to nurture community pride, foster positive change, and provide a powerful antidote to polarisation and hate.
The partner charities involved in this year’s appeal – Citizens UK, The Linking Network, Locality, Hope Unlimited Charitable Trust, and Who is Your Neighbour? – are united in their belief that the shared values of tolerance, compassion, and common humanity will prevail, no matter how loud the forces of division may become.
These charities operate in some of the UK’s most economically deprived areas, campaigning for better housing, improved healthcare services, and thriving high streets. They help to restore abandoned libraries, parks, and community centres, and run initiatives such as food banks, job and skills programmes, youth and sports clubs, and refugee welcome programmes.
The key to their success lies in their approach – one that is locally led, focused on respectful and empathetic conversations about what matters to people, and brings together neighbours, cultures, and faiths to find common ground and drive positive change. By making connections and building relationships, they are offering a true antidote to division and despair, and focusing on what unites rather than what divides.
As Locality, one of the appeal’s partners, eloquently states, “Our communities are the beating heart of a fairer society and a defence against hatred – places where everyone should feel safe, valued, and that they belong. Now, more than ever, we must invest in hope, and in the people who make it real, day after day, on the ground.”
While charity alone cannot make up for the deep divisions in our society, the Guardian’s appeal showcases what is possible when people come together to transform individual lives and communities. Your donations will make a real difference, supporting practical initiatives that change communities for the better.
Over the next few weeks, the Guardian will highlight the work of its partner charities, and a charity appeal telethon will take place on Saturday, 13 December, where readers can call in and make their contributions. The Guardian Bookshop will also donate 20p from every order received until 31 December to the appeal.
Your generosity has been truly inspiring in the past, and we hope that you will once again be moved to support this important cause. Together, we can invest in hope and help build a more just, compassionate, and united society.
