Meghan Markle and Prince Harry fans raise more than £40,000 for charity in honour of baby Archie’s first birthday

‘We hoped to help the charities and raise awareness for the projects people are conducting to help children through this pandemic,’ fundraising organiser states

Fans of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have raised more than £40,000 for charity in honour of Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor‘s first birthday.

Born on 6 May 2019, the first child of Meghan and Prince Harry turns one this week.

To mark the occasion, fans of the couple set up a fundraising initiative to raise money for several charities.

A month ago, a Twitter account that goes by the handle @_Archieday_ released a message stating that the fundraiser had been “inspired by Harry and Meghan”.

“Seeing as Covid-19 is affecting so many lives, we’ve decided to donate to charities in honour of Archie,” the tweet read. “These charities were selected by our desire to help children.”

The account stated that before the coronavirus pandemic “became an ominous presence in our lives”, a group of individuals came together “to organise a fundraising campaign to honour the principles emphasised by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in their humanitarian efforts”.

“One year later, motivated by the pure joy of Archie’s arrival and the very serious circumstances of our time, we introduce a campaign in honour of his first birthday and to promote those principles we hold dear. Community, kindness and compassion.”

Throughout the fundraising campaign, which will end today on Archie’s birthday, the organisers have raised more than £40,000 for four chosen charities.

These organisations are Children’s Aid in New York, Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada, Nourish in South Africa and WellChild in the UK.

The project was organised by university student Dani Trin, who also took part in the #GlobalSussexBabyShower fundraising campaign last year.

Speaking to Harper’s Bazaar, Trin said that the fundraiser was organised in a group chat with several Sussex fans from Twitter.

“We never had a specific amount we hoped to hit,” the student stated.

“Ultimately, we hoped to simply help the charities and raise awareness for the projects people are conducting to help children through this pandemic.”

Fans of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are hoping that they will release a new photograph of their son Archie to mark his first birthday.