British Public donates £38 million in first week

Press release 5 May 2015

The UK public has donated £38m to the DEC Nepal Earthquake Appeal in just one week since being launched, helping agencies to reach over 87,000 people in need.
 
These funds will enable DEC members to scale up efforts to reach more of the estimated 8 million people affected by the devastating earthquake, which struck west of the capital Kathmandu on Saturday 25 April.
 
Hundreds of thousands of people, many in remote villages, have had their homes damaged or destroyed and are in urgent need of food, water, shelter and medical care. Most are sleeping in the open or in make shift camps, with rain and the inaccessibility of many locations making aid deliveries challenging.
 
DEC Chief Executive Saleh Saeed said: “One week on and the response by the UK public continues to amaze me, we are extremely grateful for their generosity and quick action.
 
“The funds mean we are able to increase the humanitarian response and despite immense challenges, aid is getting through to more and more people who desperately need it.
 
“Supplies are arriving from India by road and at the one international airport, but damage to the runway is slowing the process. Fuel shortages, limited electricity, damaged roads and landslides are also hampering efforts.
 
“Our members’ teams are going to incredible lengths to provide essential aid. Emergency teams have reached survivors with first aid, water purification tablets, sacks of food and hygiene kits. Mattresses, blankets and tarpaulins have been distributed to families whose homes have been damaged or destroyed, and child-friendly spaces have been set up to help children to cope with the trauma of the earthquake.”
 
“Thanks to the overwhelming generosity of the British public, our teams have been able to reach a large number of people in just a few days but there is so much more to do.”
 
The vast majority of funds came from individual donations from members of the public but the government also contributed £5m through UK Aid Match.
 
Member agencies, fighting hard to scale up their response, are already reaching tens of thousands. The amount delivered increases every day – highlights so far include: 

  • Food for 49,300 people
  • 199,000 water purification tablets
  • Hundreds of thousands of litres of clean drinking water
  • 22,536 oral rehydration sachets
  • 19,166 tarpaulins, blankets, mattresses
  • Hygiene kits for 34,350 people
  • 12,420 bars of soap
  • 85 latrines
  • 180 baby kits
  • Nutritional food for 80 pregnant and breastfeeding mothers
  • 760 burial kits and body bags.

To make a donation to the DEC Nepal Earthquake Appeal visit: http://www.dec.org.uk, call the 24 hour hotline on 0370 60 60 900, donate over the counter at any high street bank or post office, or send a cheque. You can also donate £5 by texting the word SUPPORT to 70000.

  • £25 can provide clean water for four families for one month
  • £50 can feed a family for two weeks
  • £100 can provide emergency shelter for five families 

Notes to editors:

  • The DEC brings 13 leading UK aid charities together in times of crisis: ActionAid UK, Age International, British Red Cross, CAFOD, Care International, Christian Aid, Concern Worldwide, Islamic Relief, Oxfam, Plan UK, Save the Children, Tearfund and World Vision; all collectively raising money to reach those in need quickly.
  • All DEC agencies will support the appeal and are responding in Nepal.
  • To make a postal donation make cheques payable to ‘DEC’ and mail to ‘PO Box 999, London, EC3A 3AA’.
  • Donations can be made at any high street bank and at post office counters. To donate £5 by text, send the word SUPPORT to 70000. The full £5 will go to the DEC Nepal Earthquake Appeal. Donors must be 16 years or over and have bill payers permission. Texts are free and donations will be added to the bill.
  • Aid delivered by DEC members and their partners has been paid for with DEC funds and money from other sources. Some people will have received different kinds of help from more than one DEC agency. For example it is likely that separate schemes - one providing shelter assistance and another providing food packages - will have reached some of the same people.