The City of London Corporation has donated £75,000 to emergency appeals in Burma, South Asia and for those affected by Hurricane Irma - and is hoping City firms will follow suit.

The donations, all to the British Red Cross, include £25,000 to the appeal in Burma, £25,000 to the South Asia Floods Emergency Appeal and £25,000 to the Hurricane Irma Appeal.

The support comes from the City Corporation’s Disaster Relief Fund, which seeks to relive human suffering, bringing its total donations for 2017/2018 to £100,000. Earlier this year the City Corporation gave £25,000 towards the We Love Manchester Appeal to Manchester City Council following the devastating terror attack in the City in May.

Jeremy Mayhew, Chairman of City of London Corporation’s Finance Committee, said:

“All three of these emergency appeals are helping people in desperate situations. They need all the funds and help they can get to assist as many people as possible.

“These appeals are supporting people who have suffered traumatic and life changing experiences and many quickly need the most basic life essentials- food and clean water.

“We have made four donations this year to organisations and appeals helping vulnerable people and those affected by major disasters. We encourage City firms to come together and support these appeals as best they can.”

The Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is providing food, clean water, shelter and medical care to people in Bangladesh after launching an appeal to raise funds to help those most in need in Burma. A recent surge of violence in this area has seen around 379,000 people cross into Bangladesh in just a few weeks, with young and old arriving exhausted, hungry and dehydrated.

An appeal was also launched for people affected by Hurricane Irma, the most powerful hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean, and one of the most destructive and deadly storms in the Caribbean for years. Red Cross volunteers in every country in the hurricane’s path helped communities to prepare, from gathering relief items to sending first aiders to shelters and are providing support in the aftermath.

The Red Cross and Red Crescent are also both distributing food, clean drinking water, blankets and essential supplies to thousands of people affected by heavy flooding in South Asia. Last month heavy monsoon rains triggered severe flooding over huge areas of Nepal, India and Bangladesh. More than 41 million people have been affected, with hundreds of thousands losing their homes, crops and livelihoods.

The City of London Corporation gives millions of pounds to charities each year in a bid to tackle disadvantage and create a more fair, inclusive and sustainable society.

The City Corporation’s charitable funder City Bridge Trust is London’s biggest independent grant giver, making grants of £20 million a year to combat deprivation and inequalities.

ENDS

Media enquires:

Kristina Drake| Media Officer, Public Services

City of London Corporation

Kristina.Drake@cityoflondon.gov.uk

M: 07710860884

D: 020 7332 1125