A video has emerged from London, UK of actor Benedict Cumberbatch making an emotional plea for donations to help refugees.

Cumberbatch was speaking to the audience at the Barbican Theatre earlier this month after his performance as Hamlet.

The actor has been making speeches after every show and reads from a poem called "Home" by Somali poet Warsan Shire. It includes the words: “No one puts children in a boat unless the water is safer than the land.”

Cumberbatch's speeches have been taking an increasingly anti-government tone with criticism of the British government's decision to accept only 20,000 refugees over five years.

During a recent speech he reportedly said “f**k the politicians”.