The amount raised for charity by ITV’s Text Santa Appeal 2015 has now increased to £11m, nearly £5m more than was raised in 2014.

The 2015 appeal, which ran from 1 December to 18 December, went on to raise £8.4m through its three-hour television event on 18 December, but has gone on to raise a further £2.5m since the donation lines closed on the 8 January.

ITV also partnered with clothing manufacturer Primark as part of its Christmas Jumper Day. The company donated £1.50 to the appeal for every Christmas jumper it sold between 1 and 17 December, which raised £1m, which the government match-funded.

All three of the appeal’s sponsor charities - Macmillan Cancer Support, Make-A-Wish UK and Save the Children - have received “the first instalment of funds raised,” according to a statement from ITV with the remainder of the money “due to follow in April”. All other costs have been met by ITV itself.

ITV also said that supporters can still donate on either its Text Santa website or at Barclays branches.

Since its launch in 2011, Text Santa has now raised over £32m for charities.