London Evening Standard/London


A woman looks through what remains of donations that had been left outside a charity shop overnight in east London yesterday. The bags had been emptied of anything of any value and the remaining rubbish strewn across the pavement
Families and businesses still suffering in the wake of the riots yesterday received a double boost as the Treasury pledged a £20mn rebuilding package and a charity launched a new relief fund.
London Mayor Boris Johnson and Communities Secretary Eric Pickles yesterday announced that a further £20mn would go to the worst riot-ravaged areas of Tottenham and Croydon on top of the £50mn London-wide regeneration fund ring-fenced by City Hall.
The London Enterprise Fund will focus on the regeneration of the capital’s worst-hit areas and Johnson yesterday said that “with this support from government, we can not only restore these town centres but create better, more prosperous places to live, work and invest in”.
The news comes as a charity announced it is aiming to raise tens of thousands of pounds so it can hand out “hardship grants” to independent shops and people who lost their homes and livelihoods when thugs rampaged through the capital.
The fundraising bid, called We Love London, comes in response to the Evening Standard’s call to support small shopkeepers and rebuild the high streets ransacked by yobs.
But it also hopes to give out grants to families, couples and individuals who need help to repair what they have lost.
The money will be distributed by The Capital Community Foundation, one of the Standard’s Dispossessed Fund partners.
The charity is contacting local volunteer centres, housing associations and local authorities to find out where the grants are most needed.
The organisation, which has already raised £25,000, may also look to fund charities and community projects working on the prevention of violence.
Deutsche Bank is one of the appeal’s key backers and Kate Cavelle, its director of corporate citizenship UK, said: “Helping people build self-supporting structures is the basis of Deutsche Bank’s social commitment. This is why we are delighted to support the We Love London appeal.
“In times like this, we know that getting donations to the right people as efficiently as possible takes real work. This is why we are also paying for the administration costs of running this appeal, to ensure that 100% of all other donations go directly to the cause.”