18:14

The Guardian and Observer’s 2015 telethon. Photograph: Sophia Evans/The Observer

What a day. Guardian readers have smashed all expectations for today and given generously. Our final total is now at £887,137. Of that our readers have donated £83,319 today.

Our generous readers donated more or less about £10,000 an hour, which is astonishing. Thank you again. The amount of calls we have had from people donating their entire Winter fuel allowance and money put aside for Christmas just shows how much people care about this campaign.

The appeal is far from over. We’ve still got another three weeks to go. You will still be able to donate online, though sadly we won’t be able to put you through to the likes of Polly Toynbee or Owen Jones.

That’s not it for us here at the Guardian – we’ve got a calendar of events running up to the Christmas break. We’re now looking to hit a whopping £1m! We’re not sure if we’ve made that amount before, but it’s certainly one of the most successful appeals of recent years.

I’ll leave you with this testimony from donor Eilidh Hamilton.