Meghan's 'online baby shower' raises thousands for her supported charities in just one weekend
Charities backed by Meghan and Harry have had all hands on deck to deal with a flood of donations worth around £15,000 thanks to an online baby shower.
The campaign, triggered by a fan account dedicated to the Duchess of Sussex on Twitter, called on the internet to donate to three charities she supports to mark Mother’s Day.
CAMFED, a charity that invests in girls and women in the poorest rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa, said the donations were a huge boost as they grapple with the effects of Cyclone Idai.
The other charities benefitting off the back of the hashtag #GlobalSussexBabyShower were Mayhew, an animal welfare charity, and Well Child, a charity supporting young people with serious illness.
Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED)
Workers spent the weekend responding to messages they received during the baby shower – and have so far seen a little more than £8,900.
Head of communications, Anke Adams, said: “We are still looking at more figures, the platform we were using had some issues so we had to do some manual input.
“Figures are still going up but £8,941.95 was the last figure. We are waiting for our US office to open to check on the latest figure.
"It’s just been incredible. Someone got in touch on Friday to let us know this was happening and it’s been brilliant, we spent the weekend trying to thank everybody and trying to engage everybody.
“As we deal with the effects of Cylone Idai, this is a huge motivation.”
The charity has so far had 268 donations, with a little more than half coming from the US and a quarter from the UK.
Their social media channels got a huge uplift as well, with mentions up 400% compared to the previous 28 days and profile visits up 500%.
Mayhew
The animal welfare charity had a “huge spike” in donations after 223 people responded to the campaign to support Mayhew.
The figure stands at £4,100 and they are still getting back to people who have left them messages.
CEO Caroline Yates said: “We rounded the figures up and we have got £4,100 over the weekend, which is fantastic and a huge spike compared to usual. 223 very kind people donated.
“We are still getting messages. We can’t thank everybody who has helped enough.
“One of the things we are most grateful for is the increased awareness to reach people who maybe have not heard of us before.
“We are all hugely excited, it’s a good Monday surprise.”
Well Child
The boss of Well Child told ITV News Royal Editor Chris Ship it had received around 100 donations and raised £2,000.
"We have been surprised and delighted by the donations from supporters of #globalsussexbabyshower," said Colin Dyer, WellChild's CEO.
He added: "It's great that an online outpouring of goodwill can lead to practical help for children with serious illness and their families."
How did the campaign start?
The campaign was started by the fan account 'Freepeeper', which wrote on Twitter: "We're kicking off a global fundraiser on Sunday, 31st March in honour of #BabySussex and the compassion and altruism of The #DukeandDuchessofSussex.
"We've selected three charities to benefit in this effort. Tweet your donations and include the hashtag#GlobalSussexBabyShower".
The online campaign comes as Meghan enters the final weeks of her pregnancy, with the birth expected at the end of April or early May.
The duke and duchess have said they do not know whether they are having a boy or a girl.
The baby will be seventh in line to the throne and an eighth great-grandchild for the Queen.