Once again, the generosity of Guardian and Observer readers has left us humbled and inspired. We do not yet have a final figure but we do know your donations to our 2016 charity appeal in support of refugee children amount to over £1.6m: an incredible response.

We launched our campaign a month ago to raise money for three fantastic charities – Help Refugees, Safe Passage, and the Children’s Society. Our objective was two-fold: to provide practical, humanitarian assistance to refugees; and to make a stand for compassion, tolerance and justice in the face of weariness and hostility towards those displaced by war and oppression.

You answered the call magnificently: more than 16,000 of you donated to the appeal. You told us you gave because you were horrified by events in Syria, or moved by the misery of the refugee camps in Greece, or because you felt ashamed by the UK government’s timidity in the face of a global humanitarian crisis.



The appeal came at the end of a tumultuous and in many ways demoralising year, from the divisions laid bare by the Brexit referendum to the election of Donald Trump, and some of you told us that giving to the appeal was a way to make a stand for kindness, empathy and human rights at a time when these values seemed to be in retreat.

Some of you told us that you and your families’ experience of fleeing violence and persecution over the past nine decades – and your gratitude at finding safety and stability in the UK – compelled you to donate. For you, giving was a very personal act of belief in Britain as a place of sanctuary and freedom.

Your donations will help transform the futures of thousands of unaccompanied refugee children, both those currently in limbo in often squalid camps in Europe, and those settled here in the UK, as they attempt to rebuild their lives. Once again, we say thank you: for your generosity, for your kindness, for your solidarity.