The Evening Standard newspaper’s campaign to raise money for London’s ‘dispossessed’ has now raised £4.5m, well ahead of its original £1m target.

The newspaper announced the total yesterday afternoon, which is made up of £1.7m donated by the public which has been matched by the government. A further £1m has been added to the fund by the grassroots grants programme. The campaign was launched on 20 July.

A quarter of the money, £1m, will start to be distributed in small grants to voluntary groups in the capital within the next weeks, while the remainder will be set aside to create a permanent fund, which will be administered by the Community Foundation Network.

Prime Minister David Cameron expressed his support for the effort: “For our part, the Government is proud to have matched the donations given by readers, knowing that every penny will go towards tackling extreme poverty and creating the kind of society that we all hope for, where people have the means to help themselves and to help others,” he said.

“I hope the Fund for the Dispossessed can now go forward to hit the £5m-mark and become a permanent feature in our capital city.”