Guardian Christmas Appeal passes £1 million

The Guardian appeal for victims of the Asian earthquake and tsunami passed the £1 million mark yesterday with a donation of £250,000 from the Guardian's owner, the Guardian Media Group.

The corporate donation will be passed to Concern, one of the newspaper's original charity partners for this year's appeal, to assist communities in Sri Lanka devastated by the tsunami.

The appeal has now raised nearly £850,000 for Concern's tsunami disaster fund, plus £200,000 for its long-term work in Africa and Asia. A further £115,000 has been raised for nine local UK charities caring for the elderly.