Press Release: 12 May 2006

EGYPT APPEAL HITS TARGET IN RECORD TIME

Some of rural Egypt’s poorest inhabitants can look forward to decent living conditions thanks to the overwhelming response to BibleLands’ Building Hope for the Future appeal. Only three months after its launch, the appeal has reached its target of £150,000 – the sum BibleLands initially aimed to raise over a period of three years. 

More than 50 individuals and groups made single donations of the £1073 needed to build a whole house, while thousands of others contributed towards bricks, floors, roofs, windows and doors. 

The money will be used in partnership with Habitat for Humanity to rebuild and renovate housing in the Upper Nile villages of El Kom El Akhdar and El Sakakrya, where widespread poverty gives rise to squalid living conditions and their associated health problems.  

“This fantastic response shows how the appeal has captured people’s imaginations and enthused them to help break the cycle of poverty in these Egyptian communities,” says BibleLands’ Head of Fundraising Tricia Pruden. “Every donation, whether it buys one brick or a whole house, helps to build homes, build health and build hope - not just for today, but for generations to come.” 

Funds raised over and above the £150,000 target will be used to improve even more housing in the Upper Nile region. BibleLands will also be sending volunteer teams out to Egypt in October 2006 and March 2007 to work alongside the villagers as they rebuild their homes. 

For more information, please see www.biblelands.org.uk, phone 01494 897950, or email info@biblelands.org.uk.

Media enquiries:

 

Caroline Rance

BibleLands

01494 897933

caroline.rance@biblelands.org.uk

 

Alison MacTier

BibleLands

01494 897908

alison.mactier@biblelands.org.uk

JPEG images are available on request.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

 

BibleLands

 

Founded by the Rev Cuthbert Young in 1854 to support the work of American missionaries serving the Armenian population at the height of the Crimean War, BibleLands is a non-denominational Christian charity that works in partnership with some 50 local Christian-led projects in the lands of the Bible, in the fields of Education; Social Care; Special Needs; Medical Care; Vocational and Adult Training; Support and Care of Refugees.