The Windrush scandal, which exposed a catalogue of grotesque injustices inflicted on vulnerable people by a hostile immigration policy, stands at the heart of this year’s Guardian and Observer charity appeal. We are supporting charities that helped expose the scandal, brought justice for many affected by it, and which, with readers’ help, will be able to continue their vital work.

As many readers will know, it was the Guardian that broke the Windrush story. Our reporting revealed a wretched immigration system that has ruined the lives of thousands of citizens. People who had lived in the UK for decades, working, paying taxes, bringing up children and contributing meaningfully to society were left jobless and homeless, destitute and stateless. Some were wrongly deported. Some have died. It is one of the most shameful episodes in recent British political history, and the hostile environment that drove it has been revealed as a social catastrophe and moral failure.

Guardian and Observer appeal 2018: our chosen charities Read more

Public revulsion over the treatment of the “Windrush generation” of Caribbean immigrants and their descendants – invited to the UK in the 1950s to work in factories and the NHS – led to the resignation of a home secretary, and official promises of reform and change. But the policies remain in place. Every week more people crash unexpectedly into a system that turns their lives upside down when they cannot easily prove their legitimate right to live in Britain. Bureaucratic capriciousness separates people from loved ones and denies their right to basic services, from healthcare to housing. Its divisive effect is to weaken trust and community, undermining our shared values of fairness and justice. Meanwhile Brexit promises more turmoil for established EU migrants.

Time and again in recent years our charity appeal has highlighted the extraordinary generosity and empathy of Guardian and Observer readers towards people facing injustice and hardship. In 2015 and 2016 we supported refugees and asylum seekers; last year it was young homeless people. Our appeals – which have raised millions of pounds – are acts of solidarity both with those who suffer, and those who work hard to help them. We believe the success of these appeals reflects our readers’ commitment to a fairer, more just, more humane society. In tough, often depressing times, they send a defiant and hopeful message that things do not have to be this way.

Windrush cancer patient thanks charity that fought his case Read more

This year we are supporting five charities that helped bring the Windrush injustices to light. The charities help people who have fallen foul of the hostile immigration system. They provide legal assistance, advocacy and in some cases material and emotional support. Legal aid cuts mean they depend on public and philanthropic donations. They not only save lives and livelihoods; they help uphold our human and democratic rights.

Praxis Community Projects, the Refugee and Migrant Centre – Black Country and Birmingham, and the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants all do the vital grassroots casework that identified the Windrush injustices. Runnymede Trust worked with them to expose the injustices through its policy and campaigning work. The Law Centres Network represents 43 law centres nationwide, each defending the rights of vulnerable individuals and families every day.

Over the next few weeks we will be highlighting their fantastic work through our website and newspapers. We hope we can inspire you to give generously.

Please donate to our appeal here.