DEC Appeal raises £7m in one month

The DEC appeal for Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam which was first broadcast on Tuesday 6 October has now raised £7m.

The money is being used for emergency aid and help to get families back on their feet in East Asia after hundreds of thousands of people were hit by a series of earthquakes, typhoons, floods and landslides.

Over a million pounds has come in via Royal Mail, despite concerns about potential disruption due to postal strikes in October. This level of postal donations is consistent with previous DEC appeals. The appeal raised over £1m in 24 hours and £3m in the first week.

DEC Chief Executive Brendan Gormley said:

“We have been extremely pleased by the very generous public response to the appeal in these difficult economic times. These gifts have allowed our member agencies to make a huge difference to the lives of people in Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

“Although the emergency phase of the response is now over, many people still need a great deal of help to rebuild lives devastated by an unholy combination of typhoons, floods, earthquakes and mudslides.

“It’s not too late to help as our work is still continuing and more money is urgently needed.”

Across the region, DEC members and their partners have provided a huge amount of practical assistance, including:

Indonesia

  • Emergency healthcare for 85000 families and hygiene kits 24000
  • Tarpaulins or tents for 57000 families
  • Household supplies for 37,000 including mosquito nets, blankets, jerry cans, took kits, kitchen sets, cloths, baby kits and sleeping mats
  • Clear water for 12000 families
  • We also helped over 10,000 children get back to school
    Food for 9600 families

Philippines 

  • rescued 900 families
  • Household items for 81000 families including buckets, blankets, kitchen sets, jerry cans and mosquito nets.
  • Emergency medical help for 100 people and hygiene kits for 67600 families
  • food for 17000 families
  • Water for 3000 families
  • Shelter for 500 families
  • Also provided support for 1200 older people and 3500 cleaning kits

Vietnam

  • help with rescue operations
  • Household items for 19000 including mosquito nets, blankets and hygenie kit that contain things like soap and detergent.
  • Food for 16500 families
  • Shelter for 260 families including tarpaulins and roofing iron
  • Water for 200 families
  • Also helped over 800 mothers feed babies and infants

To make a donation to the DEC Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam appeal visit http://www.dec.org.uk or donate over the counter at any post office or send a cheque – see details below.

Anyone wanting to stay up to date with developments in the affected countries, the emergency response and the fundraising efforts can follow the DEC on twitter at http://twitter.com/decappeal or become a fan of ‘Disasters-Emergency-Committee-DEC’ on Facebook.

View the broadcast appeals on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/DECcharity

Notes to editors:

  • To make a postal donation make cheques payable to ‘DEC Disasters Appeal’ and mail to ‘DEC Disasters Appeal, PO Box 999, Birmingham, B99 9AA’.
  • Donations can be made at Post Offices by quoting Freepay 1422.
  • The DEC consists of: Action Aid, British Red Cross, CAFOD, CARE International UK, Christian Aid, Concern Worldwide, Help the Aged, Islamic Relief, Merlin, Oxfam, Save the Children, Tearfund, World Vision.
  • The DEC criteria to launch an appeal are: The disaster must be on such a scale and of such urgency as to call for swift International humanitarian assistance. The DEC agencies, or some of them, must be in a position to provide effective and swift humanitarian assistance at a scale to justify a national Appeal. There must be reasonable grounds for concluding that a public appeal would be successful, either because of evidence of existing public sympathy for the humanitarian situation or because there is a compelling case indicating the likelihood of significant public support should an appeal be launched.