More than £19 million donated to Nepal earthquake appeal
The UK public has donated more than £19 million to the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) Nepal Earthquake Appeal, a day after it was launched.
The total includes £1,656,781 donated in Scotland. This figure does not include the £250,000 donation announced by the Scottish Government yesterday.
As reports of the first relief efforts begin to come through, these funds will help scale up efforts to reach more of the estimated eight million people affected by Saturday’s earthquake, which struck west of the capital Kathmandu.
Hundreds of thousands of people, many of them in remote and hard-to-reach villages, have had their homes damaged or destroyed and are in desperate need of food, water, shelter and medical care.
Neil Mathers, chair of the DEC Nepal Earthquake Appeal in Scotland, said: "People in Scotland, and indeed throughout the UK, have once again shown their incredible generosity by responding to help those whose lives have been devastated by disaster.
"The region is hard to access and has thrown up many challenges for emergency relief teams, but aid is now getting through.
"Our member agencies are scaling up their efforts to provide essentials such as food, clean water, temporary shelter and medical care."
Sunita Poddar, honorary consul of Nepal based in Glasgow, said: "On behalf of the Nepalese community in Scotland, I would like to thank the people of Scotland for their extraordinary response to the DEC Nepal Earthquake Appeal.
"All of the money raised will make a real difference to the people of Nepal who are suffering so much at the moment."
The £19 million total is made up of £14 million given by the UK public by text, phone and online, and £5 million from the UK government through Aid Match.
While the DEC doesn’t generally make comparisons between its appeals, the amount donated to the Nepal Earthquake Appeal has exceeded previous amounts raised in the Philippines Typhoon, East Africa Crisis, Haiti Earthquake and Pakistan Floods Appeals within 24 hours of opening.
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.
• Pick up a copy of tomorrow’s Strathy for a firsthand account on the situation in Nepal.