National Red Shield Appeal Doorknock results 2012

Australians have generously supported The Salvation Army's Red Shield Appeal Doorknock this weekend with nearly $6.6 million being raised across Australia over the weekend. This interim Sunday evening tally is down slightly (by aprx 6.2%) on the 2011 Doorknock weekend result.

Salvation Army spokesperson, Major Bruce Harmer said: 'Early indications are that our Doorknock result will be down slightly on last year. However, there are still many regions where results are not finalised and there will still be official volunteer collectors out, and static collection points happening, during the week.

''We know many Australians are doing it tough and household budgets have been impacted by increasing costs of living. The alarming data released by The Salvation Army last week indicated that of 1,700 of our clients who were surveyed, 94% had no savings in reserve, 52% had gone without meals and 29% indicated they couldn't afford a decent meal at least once a week. It is to meet these and many other needs faced by everyday Australians that The Salvation Army still urgently needs your support to make this year's Red Shield Appeal a success.

'We thank Australians for their tremendous generosity towards The Salvation Army and encourage those who haven't yet given to please send in their donations. We also thank the many thousands of volunteer collectors around Australia who assisted us this weekend in raising these vital funds and the hundreds of Westpac employees who have today donated their time in Westpac branches to assist with the Appeal,' said Major Harmer.

Results by State

• ACT: $368,320 (15.8% decrease)
• NSW: $2,989,973 (39.9% decrease)
• Queensland: $913,579 (49.7% decrease)
• Northern Territory: $42,059 (42.21% decrease)
• South Australia: $227,653 (13% decrease)
• Tasmania: $105,053 (2.68% increase)
• Victoria: $1,597,385 (12.92% increase)
• Western Australia: $321,131 (22.4% decrease)

Donations may still be made by calling 13 SALVOS (13 72 58); visiting www.my.salvationarmy.org.au; in person at any Westpac Bank, or by posting a cheque to PO Box 9888 in your capital city. A release will soon be issued detailing the final Doorknock result for 2012. The $10 million Doorknock goal is part of the overall Red Shield Appeal target of $81.5 million. The Red Shield Appeal concludes at the end of June.