The Dispossessed: Goldman Sachs boosts our appeal to £850,000

Goldman Sachs today became the latest City name to make a major donation to the Evening Standard's Dispossessed Fund.

The contribution, which came as a government adviser hailed the campaign as an "important wake-up call for London", pushes the fund over the £850,000 mark.

"This is a very worthy cause, and we're delighted to support it," said a spokeswoman for Goldman Sachs international.

The financial giant joins a long list of London's biggest firms and most famous individuals, including Michael Caine, Philip Green, Westfield and Barclays. Every donation to the fund is also being matched by the Government.

Dotcom pioneer Martha Lane Fox also backed the campaign today.

Miss Lane Fox, who founded lastminute.com and is the Government's "digital champion", believes that getting online is key to helping many in the capital out of poverty.

She said: "The campaign is an important wake-up call for London.

"Three-quarters of those who suffer from social and economic exclusion also have limited engagement with the internet.

"If the 1.6 million children in UK families currently classified as both digitally and socially excluded got online at home, it could boost their total lifetime earnings by over £10 billion."