More than £6m has been raised by the Disasters Emergency Committee’s (DEC) Ebola Crisis Appeal since the appeal's launch yesterday.
Funds were raised through web, phone and text donations and UK government support, the organisation said today.
Saleh Saeed, chief executive of DEC, said: "We have been overwhelmed by the extraordinary generosity of the UK public in response to our unprecedented appeal for the Ebola Crisis in west Africa."
DEC announced today that money raised will go towards increasing support to workers and volunteers burying the thousands of victims.
Almost 5,000 people have died since the start of this year’s Ebola outbreak and the World Health organisation has warned that measures are needed to prevent up to 10,000 people a week becoming infected by December.
Government matches first £5m raised
The government announced on Wednesday that it will match fund the first £5m of public donations to DEC's Ebola Crisis Appeal.
Justine Greening, the secretary of state for international development, said the government will activate the UK Aid Match scheme for the appeal.
Greening said: “The Ebola outbreak in West Africa is unprecedented and requires a huge global response.
“The British people have always shown immense generosity in situations like these, with hundreds of our health workers having already volunteered their services. Now, by matching pound-for-pound the first £5m of public donations to the DEC appeal, the UK government will help that generosity go twice as far.”
So far the UK has committed £205m to supporting the global effort to contain, control and defeat the disease in Sierra Leone.
The UK Government's contribution makes up £3 million of today’s total.
HRH The Prince of Wales has also supported the DEC’s Ebola Crisis Appeal with a generous donation.
“We are extremely grateful to the UK Government for the aid match funding which is a significant boost to the Appeal," said Saeed. "The UK Government will match a further £2million raised, so we encourage the UK public to donate as soon as possible to double the amount of their donation while they can.
"We are also enormously grateful to The Prince of Wales for his generous donation towards the DEC Appeal. This donation, along with money from all our other generous donors, will enable the DEC members to help prevent the spread of this deadly disease and to provide urgently needed support to those who have been affected."
The DEC’s Ebola Crisis Appeal is the first time in its 50 year history that the member agency has launched an appeal in response to a disease outbreak.
Additional reporting by Alice Sharman
