Millions of pounds were donated to UK organisations as part of the annual online event

Donations to charity shot up this Giving Tuesday, according to early indications.

The annual event took place this week (28 November), with people urged to donate to a good cause following the Black Friday and Cyber Monday Christmas shopping events.

The Charities Aid Foundation said that the campaign was mentioned online more than 48,000 times and that initial findings showed donations on the BT My Donate site increased by 56% compared to 2016.

The #givingtuesday hashtag was the UK's top trend on Twitter from 8.30am to 5.30pm, with huge numbers of celebrities, politicians, businesses and leading charities tweeting about it. Statistics from Brandwatch showed that the number of mentions online was 48,003, up 10% on 2016. In addition, #givingtuesday appeared in Twitter newsfeeds 882 million times in the UK alone.

The Big Give, a non-profit website which helps donors find and support charities in their field of interest, also saw £4 million donated on the day. While this was lower than last year's £4.3m, it represented more than 9,000 donations - up on last year's total of 8,500.

More than 2000 organisations became #givingtuesday partners this year, up from around 1,600 in 2016.

Ben Russell, director of the foundation, which coordinates the campaign in the UK, said: "It's wonderful to see how Giving Tuesday continues to go from strength to strength in the UK.

"While Giving Tuesday may only be one day, it offers the opportunity for people to try out ideas they can use throughout the year. Indeed, the response it generated in people donating money, giving up their time or finding out about good causes they may not otherwise have heard of through friends, family and social media, will have a lasting impact on good causes around the world."

Megastars such as Lady Gaga, Emma Watson and Sir Ian McKellen were amongst those who backed the campaign on social media.