Monday 19 September 2016
The Overseas Aid & Development Commission has matched the £22,000 raised by the 2016 World Aid Walk.
The Overseas Aid & Development Commission has matched the £22,000 raised by the 2016 World Aid Walk.
As a result six charities will receive £3,500 each from the World Aid Walk, and a further £3,500 from the Commission. The charities supported by the walk are ActionAid, Christian Aid, the Eleanor Foundation, Oxfam, Save the Children Fund and the Tumaini Fund.
In addition, the Walk's sponsor, Standard Chartered, will receive £1,000 from the Walk and £1,000 from the Commission towards its overseas charity for 2016, Seeing Is Believing.
Deputy Emilie Yerby, the Commission's President, said:
"The World Aid Walk is a highlight of Guernsey's charity calendar - an event many islanders enjoy participating in each year. One of the great things about the Walk is that it's entirely home grown - it was started more 45 years ago by islanders who wanted to raise awareness of the challenges faced by people living in poorer countries, and how we could take action to make a difference.'
The Commission's decision to match money raised by the Walk reflected its recognition of how much a part of island life the event has become since its inception in 1970.
It was a privilege for the Commission to be able to boost the impact of the World Aid Walk this year, by doubling the funds raised by those who took part; and it is great to see that the charities involved have selected a range of projects which closely reflect the Commission's ethos of making lasting change in poorer communities through health, education, sanitation and food security."
Bella Farrell, Chairperson for the World Aid Walk Committee, said:
"I was thrilled to hear this year that the Overseas Aid Commission had agreed to provide matched funding for The World Aid Walk.
For the past 46 years this Walk has raised hundreds of thousands of pounds which has enabled Aid and Development projects to continue to impact on individual lives worldwide.'
Guernsey should be very proud of this event which has maintained its unique identity and support from local Guernsey people, who have compassion for the 3 billion vulnerable and impoverished people on our planet. Long may the Commission support our work. We are incredibly grateful to the Commission.
We have also been immensely fortunate with our sponsors who have enabled the World Aid Walk to continue over the decades. Our 2016 sponsor is relocating so the organising committee is keen to discuss 2017 sponsorship opportunities with interested parties."
The charities receiving funds have advised the Commission that they will use this money to:
- ActionAid - Fund a project in Nepal to assist with post-earthquake rebuilding.
- Christian Aid - Help towards the cost of constructing a plinth-raised cluster village in Gaibandha in the north of Bangladesh. The total projects costs are just over £14,000 and the village will house 15 households. The balance of the funding will be raised by Christian Aid locally.
- Eleanor Foundation - Construct a shallow well in Kagera, Tanzania. The work is part of the charity's wider programme to provide clean water to this region of Tanzania. The cost of each shallow well is approximately £7,000 and each well serves a local population of around 2,000 people.
- OXFAM - Support an ongoing food security programme it has established in the Somali region of Ethiopia.
- Save the Children - Support an emergency feeding programme for a small school in Ethiopia. This proposal is part of its wider response to the famine disaster relief that the charity undertaking in Ethiopia.
- Tumaini Fund - Buy mosquito nets for families it supports in Kagera, Tanzania. The charity will purchase the nets locally and each costs about £4, enabling two children to sleep under it and significantly reduce the risk of them contracting malaria.
- Seeing Is Believing - Support a new project in Zambia providing eye care services (through cataract surgery, treatment, eye examinations, distribution of spectacles, eye health education and training of eye health workers) in four underserved districts in Muchinga and Eastern Provinces. A sight restoring cataract operation costs as little as £23, while a pair of spectacles can cost just £12.
