Widyaratna and Caless raise £4k in hours for food banks in trade crowdfunder

Picador commissioning editor Kishani Widyaratna and Influx Press co-founder Kit Caless have launched a fundraiser for people in the publishing industry to donate money to the Trussell Trust with nearly £4,000 raised within five hours.

The crowdfunder has seen a wealth of donations pour in from the likes of Man Booker-shortlisted author Daisy Johnson, novelist S J Bradley and Hold author Michael Donkor alongside Dialogue Books founder Sharmaine Lovegrove and various agents and editors. It was launched on Tuesday morning (17th December) by Caless (pictured below) and Widyaratna (pictured above) and raised more than £3,700 by 4pm.

The fundraiser calls on the trade to support those most in need, with the aim of raising £5,000. "People from across the UK publishing industry, from editors, booksellers and authors, to publicists, agents and designers, are donating money to go towards helping the acute crisis in poverty and hunger amongst the least well off in the country," Caless wrote on GoFundMe. "We live in a nation where more than 14 million people are living in poverty—including 4.5 million children. The Trussell Trust has given out over 1.6 million packs of food supplies in the past year alone. Food Banks are not just a place to pick up essential sustenance, with cuts to community centres and frontline services they have also become mini-welfare and advice centres. We're aiming to raise £5,000 before Christmas 2019, which will go to the Trussell Trust. Your donation will directly help those most in need of support. It is vital that those working in publishing come together as a community and take action."

The Trussell Trust is a charity working with more than 1,200 food bank centres across the UK providing food and support to people in poverty.