British donations top £100 million
The British public has now donated £100 million to the tsunami aid effort, the Disasters and Emergency Committee (DEC) has said.
“Through their unprecedented generosity the British public have insured that we can help rebuild shattered lives and livelihoods,” said DEC chief executive Brendan Gormley.
More than 150,000 people from 11 countries were killed in the Boxing Day disaster in south-east Asia and five million have been left homeless.
Visiting the region earlier in the week, the International Development Secretary Hilary Benn said: “You have to see the devastation frankly to believe it.
“The only thing I’ve ever seen like it, and only in photographs, is Nagasaki and Hiroshima [which were hit with atomic bombs in 1945].”
Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Alex Salmond has been urging all MPs to gift aid a day’s pay to the appeal. In the Scottish Parliament, a significant number of SNP, Labour, Green and Socialist MSPs have signed up to the scheme.
He is also calling for the scheme to be extended to Westminster on a non-party basis.
Liberal Democrat president Simon Hughes suggested this morning that the Government should encourage such as scheme to be extended to the public as a whole on a yearly basis.
He said: “The Government should enable members of the public, via the Inland Revenue, to donate one day’s pay every year for disaster relief or to support communities in the developing world. This could raise almost £1.5bn every year.”
The Charity Commission has advised all those wishing to donate to the appeal to make sure they do so through genuine outlets. Earlier in the week it warned that areas across the country had been targeted by bogus collectors.
Chief executive Andrew Hind, said: “It’s incomprehensible that some people want to take from survivors of a disaster left with absolutely nothing. I’d urge the generous public to take their clothes to a genuine charity shop and to make their cash donations to an established appeal fund such as the Disasters Emergency Committee.
“Help the victims – don’t let bogus collectors help themselves”
On a more positive note, the commission is also calling on donors to maximise their donations by ensuring they register for gift aid. This enables charities to claim back an extra 28 pence in the pound from the government in tax rebate.
The main appeal fund can be accessed here
The DEC’s committee comprises leading UK aid agencies including Save the Children, Oxfam and Christian Aid. Donations can be made via most high street banks and building societies as well as online.
