Choose Love

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UK refugee charity (formerly Help Refugees); major funder of the White Helmets; previously administered by Prism the Gift Fund; linked to The Syria Campaign and Together for Palestine


Choose Love

Type Charitable incorporated organisation
Founded 2015
Founder(s) Josie Naughton (CEO); Lliana Bird; Dawn O’Porter; Dani Lawrence
Status Active (registered charity 1177927)
Headquarters London
Services Flexible grants to local partners; emergency response; advocacy
Key people Josie Fernandez-Marelli (née Naughton, CEO and co-founder)
Website chooselove.org
Remarks Partnered with the White Helmets since 2016; previously operated as a collective fund under Prism the Gift Fund until 2024; recipient of funds from the Together for Palestine concert


Choose Love (formerly Help Refugees) is a UK-based charitable incorporated organisation (charity number 1177927) that provides grants and support to local partners working with refugees and displaced people. Founded in 2015 in response to the Calais camps, it has raised more than £120 million and worked with over 600 partners across more than 50 countries. It has partnered with the White Helmets since 2016 and appears as a funder of The Syria Campaign in certain years. Until 2024 it operated as a collective fund administered by Prism the Gift Fund; it is now an independent charity. In 2025 it was the designated recipient of donations from the Together for Palestine concert organised by figures associated with The Syria Campaign.[1][2]

Origins and structure

Help Refugees was founded in 2015 by radio presenter Lliana Bird, television presenter Dawn O’Porter, Josie Naughton (now Josie Fernandez-Marelli) and Dani Lawrence, initially as a social-media response to conditions in Calais. By 2016 it was described as the largest grassroots distributor of aid in Europe. The organisation rebranded as Choose Love and, until May 2024, operated as a “collective fund” managed by Prism the Gift Fund, which provided legal, financial and back-office support. Corporate Watch and others raised concerns about transparency in the Prism relationship. From 2024 Choose Love has been an independent registered charity. It also operates a US 501(c)(3) entity. Josie Fernandez-Marelli remains CEO.[1][3]

Prism the Gift Fund and Anne Josse

Prism the Gift Fund was established in 2004/2005 by Anne (Anna) Josse as a donor-advised fund mechanism. Josse previously ran the UK arm of the New Israel Fund and co-runs the private-equity firm Regent Capital with Gideon Lyons. She has been described by the Jewish Chronicle as an Orthodox Jew who spent time at a religious seminary and chaired the Manchester University Jewish Society. Prism administered Choose Love’s funds (charging a percentage for governance and accounting) until the 2024 split, which Miller attributes to a dispute over the Gaza genocide. Choose Love’s own materials and Wikipedia confirm the severance of the Prism relationship in 2024.[4][5]

White Helmets and Syria

Choose Love’s impact reporting states that it has partnered with the White Helmets since 2016 and has funded organisations in Syria for approximately nine years, “including most notably the White Helmets.” Its 10-year impact materials highlight the White Helmets’ search-and-rescue work and post-earthquake operations. The organisation has also funded other Syrian civil-society partners. It appears in The Syria Campaign’s published donor lists for certain years (Help Refugees / Choose Love).[6][7]

Together for Palestine and later controversies

In September 2025 the Together for Palestine concert at Wembley Arena (organised by T4P Events Ltd, whose directors included James Sadri and Anna Nolan of The Syria Campaign) stated that “every penny donated will go to supporting Palestinian-led humanitarian organisations” via Choose Love. David Miller’s Al Mayadeen article questioned the transparency of the arrangement, noted Choose Love’s listed partners in both “Israel” (including the New Israel Fund) and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and highlighted past funding relationships (including the Rockefeller Brothers Fund) and the Prism/Josse history. Choose Love has stated that it severed ties with Prism in 2024. These claims and characterisations are those of the cited article; Choose Love presents itself as an independent humanitarian grant-maker.[4]

Funding and scale

Choose Love reports having raised more than £120 million since 2015 (some materials cite approximately $160 million) and having supported more than 8 million people via 600+ local partners across 50+ countries. Income is a mix of public fundraising, trusts and foundations, and high-net-worth donors. Charity Commission filings for the year ending 31 March 2025 show total income of approximately £12.6 million. The organisation emphasises unrestricted grants to frontline partners.[2][1]

See also

External links

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Wikipedia, Choose Love (organisation) Wikipedia, accessed 10 October 2026.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Charity Commission, CHOOSE LOVE 1177927 Charity Commission, accessed 10 October 2026.
  3. ↑ The Civil Fleet, Choose Love: why is the charity funder quitting Calais this Christmas? The Civil Fleet, 10 December 2021.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 David Miller, Together for Palestine: Troubling questions about the organisers of this huge event Al Mayadeen English, 17 September 2025.
  5. ↑ Jewish Chronicle, profile of Anna Josse, 2017.
  6. ↑ Choose Love, 10 Years of Choose Love Impact Report, chooselove.org / GlobalGiving archive.
  7. ↑ The Syria Campaign, successive Annual Reports, donor lists.
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