Duke of Westminster backs our Christmas cost of living appeal with £100,000 donation

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy 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. “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.