CHURCHGOERS and school children around Cardiff are getting ready for a major appeal to support vulnerable communities around the world.
There’s a month to go until Christian Aid Week 2024 and groups around the city, and further afield, are preparing their events.
The congregation at Pontprennau Community Church in Cardiff, have been busy thinking ahead. Group coordinator David Collins explained: “Every year, during this appeal, people across Wales have seven days and so many ways to raise funds to support their global neighbours, in a celebration of hope for a fairer world.
“We encouraged the children at church to think about how much we could do during Christian Aid Week – and they’re ready to send God’s love around the world. The adults also joined in!”
Pupils from The Bishop of Llandaff School are also gearing up for some fun.
Last year, the school held various events, including a competition to guess the number of peas in the jar.
Money raised during Christian Aid Week will help the organisation’s partners empower vulnerable communities to find sustainable ways out of poverty.
This year’s appeal – from May 12–18 – is focussing on work in Burundi, one of the most densely populated and poorest countries in Africa.
Heavily reliant on agriculture, it’s also one of the least prepared to combat the effects of climate change, including droughts, floods and landslides. The global cost of living crisis has intensified the challenges: more than 70 per cent of the population live in poverty and more than half of children are chronically malnourished.
Christian Aid has been working in Burundi since 1995 when it first offered humanitarian assistance to people surviving the civil conflict. Now, alongside local partners, the organisation helps establish Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs).
These community-led groups mean people can save and borrow money, making small businesses possible, offering reliable and diverse incomes so families can eat regularly, get medicine when they need it, and build safer homes.
Christian Aid Week offers seven days and so many ways to make a difference – to find out more, visit https://www.christianaid.org.uk/.
