Christian Aid Week will be taking place between 10 and 16 May. The charity was set up in the 1940s, at first to help refugees from the war, and it’s celebrating its 75th anniversary.
It tackles poverty in places across the world, bringing churches together as the relief agency of over forty Christian denominations. It works in partnership with local charities around the world that take action on poverty, through long-term commitments as well as emergency relief, and supporting people whatever their faiths or beliefs might be.
Each year has a theme, and this year it is to help communities in rural Kenya touched by climate change, creating earth dams to provide supplies of water. This is only one of many projects, and Christian Aid has also been helping Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, and taking part in the rebuilding of Beirut after the massive explosion at the docks in 2020.
What is possible will be restricted by the lockdown, but St Nicholas Church Shepperton will deliver thousands of envelopes with their parish magazine, Shepperton News, together with information about “drop-off points” where people can take their donations. I’ll have extra envelopes available if you email me at hardy132@btinternet.com.
Christian Aid will also be active online during the week, and you can donate through their website at www.christianaid.org.uk. To donate by phone, you can call 020 7523 2269. Times are tough for so many of us now, but any money that you can give, big or small, will be very gratefully received.
Will Hardy