Hugh Grosvenor, the seventh Duke of Westminster, has become the latest big donor to support The Independent’s Christmas appeal, with a £100,000 donation from his Westminster Foundation “to help children in need in London have access to healthy food”.
It takes the total raised by our On The Breadline campaign, in partnership with the Evening Standard, The Childhood Trust and Comic Relief, to £2.6m, with the money to be given out in grants to fund organisations helping to relieve pressure on people struggling with the cost of living crisis.
The property magnate, who is the owner of Grosvenor Group and chair of the Westminster Foundation, said: “We know that a rising number of households across the capital are facing extreme hardship this winter, and it will feel even more acute during the school holidays, when too many parents are forced to make impossible decisions as they skip meals to cover other financial demands.”
He added: “The Childhood Trust provides a lifeline to so many children and families. We share your ambition to reduce the impact of poverty on young people living in London, so I’m delighted to support the On The Breadline campaign of the Evening Standard and Independent in partnership with The Childhood Trust.
“I hope this funding, alongside our grants to other similar charities, will help children in London have access to healthy food when they need it most.”
The Westminster Foundation is providing a total of £1m to charities helping children and their families through the cost of living crisis this winter, with a focus on charities fighting food poverty that are based in Westminster and Chester, where the foundation operates.
The first grant from its emergency fund was a £100,000 donation in October to The Felix Project, London’s largest food redistributor.
