ALMOST £1M RAISED IN UNDER 1 WEEK ON JUST GIVING PAGE FOR KILLED WESTMINSTER POLICEMAN PC PALMER

People have donated more than £700,000 for the family of murdered policeman Keith Palmer, through the JustGiving page.

The Metropolitan Police Federation, which set up fundraiser, said a ‘suitable amount’ had been collected in memory of the Westminster terror attack victim who was stabbed while guarding the Houses of Parliament.

The page, which was set up at 9.13am on Thursday, received a total of £736,328 in donations for the family of PC Palmer before it closed at midday on Monday.

‘When we initially started it up, we had a goal which was £250,000. It surpassed that and that was absolutely incredible,’ Mr Marsh said.

Chairman Ken Marsh said focus would now turn to raising money for other injured officers.

‘By law, it’s in his name and every penny goes to him – exactly as it should.

‘But we also have other colleagues who are seriously injured and will require a lot of help as well.’

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Mr Marsh said closing the page had ‘nothing whatsoever’ to do with JustGiving’s administration fee.

‘I entered into that knowing fully what they charge – they are a business,’ he said.

‘You can all have your views and opinions about that but at the end of the day, we would never have raised what we have raised if we hadn’t of used JustGiving.’

He added: ‘The bottom line is – we wanted to channel the money differently now that we’ve got enough for Pc Palmer.’

Mr Marsh said the family of Pc Palmer were ‘overwhelmed’ by the public’s generosity and hailed the ‘family’ of police who had united nationwide following the Westminster attack.

He said: ‘It’s amazing, and that’s what we do as cops – we come together and we support each other.

‘Just because it happened in London doesn’t mean that the other 42 forces don’t feel it the same as us – because this could happen anywhere.’

Stephen Redgewell, Metropolitan Police Federation treasurer, wrote on the JustGiving page: ‘Thank you everyone for your kind words and donations.

‘The appeal has raised far more than anyone could have ever imagined.

‘We have decided that it is time to close the Just Giving appeal for Keith, but any donations can still be made via the HSBC account or by post.’

METRO.CO.UK