Revealing that seven out of ten donations through its service go to just 140 out of 8,000 listed charities, JustGiving has launched its Christmas appeal to support the ‘forgotten’ charities.

SpreadtheGiving launched yesterday asking for ‘angels’ to support the smaller charities on JustGiving’s register. By partnering with a charity, providing an initial donation of £5 or more and promoting to family and friends through social media to encourage further donations, JustGiving hopes its angels will be able to give a much-needed Christmas boost for the 5,943 charities taking part in the campaign.

Anne-Marie Huby, managing director at JustGiving, said: “With millions of pounds raised for charity every year via JustGiving but just 140 charities benefiting from the bulk of donations, it’s clear that less well known charities could do with some additional support.

"Our ‘angels’ will be tasked with raising awareness of the charity and encouraging friends and family to donate. We’re hoping that this simple scheme will help spread cheer and goodwill this Christmas and beyond.”

Angels will be allocated a charity from a lucky dip but will have the option to choose again if they do not wish to support that charity.

Within 24 hours of its launch, SpreadtheGiving has so far recruited angels for 307 charities and raised £3,969. A running total can be seen on the SpreadtheGiving website which outlines how to become a charity angel.