The Guardian has launched its 2025 charity appeal with a powerful focus on fostering hope. This year's initiative partners with five distinct charities dedicated to supporting grassroots community work that directly challenges division, hate, and despair across the United Kingdom.
Building Bridges from the Ground Up
At the heart of the appeal is a belief in the transformative power of local action. The selected charities each employ unique methods to connect people, counter toxic narratives, and build resilient communities from the bottom up.
Locality, a national network of over 2,000 local community organisations, returns as a partner after featuring in the 2022 Cost of Living Crisis appeal. Its members operate in some of the UK's most disadvantaged areas, providing essential services from food banks to youth clubs. Chief Executive Tony Armstrong describes their mission as "the antidote to despair," generating resilience and opportunity where it's needed most. Donations will fund grants for local projects and bolster efforts to combat division.
Fostering Understanding from the Classroom Onwards
The appeal also champions the work of The Linking Network, a charity born in Bradford over two decades ago. It began in 2001 when two primary schools united with a simple, powerful idea: children flourish when they learn alongside peers from different backgrounds.
This sparked the 'Schools Linking' programme, which pairs schools to allow pupils from diverse faiths, cultures, and socioeconomic situations to spend meaningful time together. The goal is to reduce prejudice and build connections through shared experiences. Now active in 26 local authority areas including Bristol, Cardiff, and Leicester, Guardian donations will help expand this vital work.
Empowering People and Communities Nationwide
The appeal's three other partners each bring a crucial perspective to building hope. Citizens UK, Britain's largest people-powered alliance, will use its share to fund a Power-Building Fund. This will train community leaders to harness collective power for change, continuing a legacy that includes the influential Living Wage campaign.
Who is Your Neighbour?, a South Yorkshire charity, facilitates difficult community conversations about change, cultural differences, and loss. Its model, based on the principle that "empathy builds empathy," helps people navigate divisive times and is being shared nationally.
Finally, the Hope Unlimited Charitable Trust acts as a grant-giver, specifically targeting hyper-local grassroots projects that struggle to access traditional funding. It supports initiatives that strengthen community relationships and boost resilience against hateful narratives, funding what communities themselves identify as a priority.
Together, these five partners represent a robust, community-focused response to the challenges of division. The Guardian's 2025 appeal underscores a central message: investing in local connections and grassroots action is a fundamental defence against hatred and a direct investment in a more hopeful future.
