At the start of the pandemic, personal protective equipment was in very short supply. The Daily Mail stepped in to provide vital PPE for the UK’s frontline health and medical workers through its Mail Force charity.
Launched in April 2020, Mail Force One saw the newspaper fly in 20 tons of PPE worth £1 million from China to help stem the shortage of lifesaving kit. The campaign gained the backing from businesses and celebrities including the Queen Consort, Emma Thompson, Salesforce founder and CEO Marc Benioff, and Hans and Julia Rausing.
The Daily Mail also used its Mail Force charity during the pandemic to source computers for children stuck home during lockdown so they could continue their education. Computers for Kids gained the backing of stars like David Beckham, Naomi Campbell, Joan Collins, Stephen Fry and Emma Thompson, who all appeared in a promotional video to support the campaign.
Mail Force One raised over £10 million and distributed 42 million items of PPE, over 100 tons of kit. In total, the charity received a massive 54,000 cheques from Mail readers. The Mail Force’s ‘Computers for Kids’ fund also broke the £10 million barrier, one of the news brand’s most successful campaigns
Many of us have been involved with great Daily Mail campaigns before but it’s hard to think of one which has had such a powerful, instant, emotional response from so many people. Some of the letters pouring in are extremely moving. There has been a real connection.
Robert Hardman, one of the Daily Mail writers involved in the charity from the start
