The insurance and long-term savings sector has hit its target of raising £100m for charity through the Covid-19 Support Fund.

The ABI says the total makes it the biggest sector fund in the UK.

The fund was set up in May to help charities most hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Some £84m has been raised through voluntary donations from firms within the sector and, from this amount, £20m has been granted to an initiative with The Charities Aid Foundation (CAF).

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport announced over the weekend that it is match-funding that donation with an additional £20m, taking the total in the Fund to £104m.

The Covid-19 Support Fund has also donated £20m to the National Emergencies Trust (NET) to support community-based organisations across the UK and national charities including Mind, Shelter and Age UK.

A further £2.5m has been donated to Business in the Community’s National Business Response Network, and the fund is working with CAF to distribute the remaining donations in order to get support to those who need it most as quickly as possible.

Yvonne Braun, ABI executive lead, Covid-19 Fund, said: “The Covid-19 Support Fund has received a phenomenal response from the insurance and long-term savings industry and raising the biggest corporate donation across any sector is truly something to be proud of.

“While no single fund can fill the huge financial black hole facing the charity sector, we know it will help hundreds of thousands of people facing hardship up and down the country.”

The Covid-19 Support Fund is supported by members of the Association of British Insurers (ABI), British Insurance Brokers' Association (BIBA), The London Market Group (LMG) and the International Underwriting Association (IUA).