Community Security Trust fundraiser hits £4m mark

The Community Security Trust raised a staggering £4.1m this week, the largest fundraising total by a Jewish charity during the pandemic.

The Together campaign, launched last Saturday night, smashed its £2m target in under 24hours, before doubling it by the end of the fundraiser on Monday evening.

The initiative, in which every donation was matched by sup porters of the charity, was backed by high profile celebrities and public figures, including David Baddiel, Eamon Holmes and TracyAnn Oberman.

The CST, which works to protect British Jews from antisem itism and terror, raised a total of £ 4,182,259.

Countdown presenter Rachel Riley, who came to prominence as a campaigner against antisemitism during Jeremy Corbyn’s tenure as Labour leader, said she had been “subjected to antisemitic and misogynistic abuse and threats” during that time.

She “never needed CST until then”, but the charity was there “immediately” for her and others in the public eye.

Also lending support were former MPs Luciana Berger, Ruth Smeeth and Dame Louise Ellman, as well as Barking MP Dame Margaret Hodge.

CST chairman Gerald Ronson: said: “The Together campaign is more than just a slogan. It is what we do, along with Jewish com munities, the police and government. I have spent over 50 years leading and building this effort so I am very proud to see that 7,000 people stepped forward in this way.”

Its chief executive, Mark Gardner, said: “CST reached out to our whole community for its help and the response was brilliant. We’ve raised over £4 million and this will go a long way to help meet our annual expenditure. A lot of our volunteers, staff and trustees have commented on feeling very moved by what they have seen, both with the donations, but also especially with the messages of support that we received from so many people across the country. Its left us feeling highly motivated and with an even greater sense of partnership with all of our community”