for the campaign, at which point he offered to match the first £5,500 raised. History of the campaign The Atheist Bus Campaign's donation phase launched on Tuesday 21 October 2008 with another article by Sherine, All aboard the atheist bus campaign, on Comment is free. To the surprise of the organisers the fundraising target was broken within hours of the launch, raising almost £48,000 by the end of day one. After four days the campaign had raised more than £100,000. There have been donations to the Justgiving page every day since the campaign's launch, and by 9 January 2009 the total had surpassed £140,000. The BHA has reported a flood of interest in its activities and the Atheist Bus Campaign Facebook group has been growing rapidly since the launch. Many atheists feel the campaign has given them a voice and represented them in a way they have long hoped for. The story attracted widespread media attention around the world. Writing in The Times, Joan Bakewell observed that "Not since Going to Work on an Egg has an advertising initiative made such an impact, and for so little cost." There has been some opposition to the adverts. By 21 January 2009 the ASA had received 326 complaints about the bus adverts, including a complaint from Stephen Green of Christian Voice (UK) who said "It is given as a statement of fact and that means it must be capable of substantiation if it is not to break the rules." Hanne Stinson of the BHA has suggested that if the ASA rule on this complaint, then the ASA will be ruling on whether God exists. On 21 January the ASA ruled that the adverts were not in breach of its rules as the advert "was an expression of the advertiser's opinion" and was incapable of substantiation. They also claimed that although the advert was contrary to many people's beliefs, it would not generate "serious or widespread offence". By the end of the year, the ASA had received 392 complaints about the adverts. The campaign has also received criticism from leading clergy including George Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, and Peter Price, the former Bishop of Bath and Wells, who said "the campaign lacked both judgement and a sense of reality." In Southampton, a bus driver refused to drive a bus displaying the advert. His employers, First Bus, undertook to find him another