Glastonbury Festival is set to donate more than £3.7m to charitable causes and campaigns before the year’s end, which the organisers described as a “record amount”.
The five-day renowned music festival, hosted by Worthy Farm in Somerset, has raised funds for a range of major charities over the past year, including its long-standing charity partners Oxfam, WaterAid and Greenpeace.
The festival said it had made payments of more than £1.7m to these charities through donations and for service provisions such as stewarding. Its organisers have also put proceeds from the festival’s vest collaboration with the designer Stella McCartney to these charities.
The festival has also donated an additional £1.3m to other charitable causes, including a donation to the Red Cross’s Israel and Occupied Palestinian Territory Appeal to provide medical aid to those in need.
War Child also received a donation from the festival to aid with the charity’s efforts in that region, as well as in other countries affected by war such as Syria, Afghanistan and Ukraine.
A number of charities supporting refugees and asylum seekers have received donations from the festival, including Safe Passage, Migrant Help and the UK Refugee Council. It has also funded projects by the refugee support organisations Makani and Women for Refugee Women.
Glastonbury Festival has also supported a number of UK charities working with young people suffering from homelessness, including Centrepoint, Fareshare, Foodcycle and Beauty Banks.
Girls Out Loud, Young Women’s Trust and Beyond Equality have also received funding from the festival.
Glastonbury said more than 200 charities were supported by the festival this year while also providing essential services, with stewards, litter pickers and campsite crew among others raising funds for a range of different charities.
In a post on Instagram, Emily Eavis, the festival’s co-organiser, said: “It’s wonderful for us to be able to let you know that we have donated a record amount of over £3.7m to charitable causes and campaigns this year, helping those facing challenges in the UK and across the world.
“Thank you to every one of you who comes and allows us to be able to make a bit of a difference to those that need it right now.”
Glastonbury Festival is thrilled to have supported a range of incredible causes this year. It is thanks to your support for the Festival that we have been able to make substantial donations to help those facing challenges across the world.
By the end of 2023, we will have made… pic.twitter.com/h4KL7EGpju
— Glastonbury Festival (@glastonbury) December 14, 2023