City Corporation encourages donations to Team Rubicon UK’s Hurricane Dorian appeal after giving £25k
The City of London Corporation has donated £25,000 to Team Rubicon’s UK’s Hurricane Dorian disaster response appeal and is encouraging City firms and individuals to support the effort.
With the unfolding catastrophe in The Bahamas now revealing the true extent of the destruction, Team Rubicon UK staff are providing aid to people in the most remote areas, which many other aid agencies find impossible to reach.
The donation comes from the City Corporation’s Disaster Relief Fund, which seeks to relieve human suffering, bringing its total donations in the last three years to £225,000.
Rescuers have begun to reach areas of the northern Bahamas devastated by Hurricane Dorian, with aerial images showing a trail of destruction.
Hubert Minnis, Prime Minister of The Bahamas, said that some areas had been "decimated" and expected the current death toll to rise, describing the hurricane as "one of the greatest national crises in our country's history.”
The hurricane winds that hit the Abaco Islands equalled the highest ever recorded at landfall, and Grand Bahama also suffered severe damage and floods.
In the past three years, the City of London Corporation has given £30,000 to the Disasters Emergency Committee’s Cyclone Idai Appeal; £25,000 towards the We Love Manchester Appeal, following the devastating terror attack in the city; £70,000 to the Disasters Emergency Committee’s Indonesia Tsunami Appeals; and £75,000 in total to emergency appeals in Burma, South Asia, and for those affected by Hurricane Irma.
Jeremy Mayhew, Chairman of the City of London Corporation’s Finance Committee, said:
“This hurricane has caused catastrophic damage, wrecking thousands of homes and contaminating water through extensive flooding.
“We are calling upon City firms and individuals to join us in supporting this appeal.
“The urgent task is to provide food, water, shelter, and security as quickly as possible.
“With a rising death toll and many more still missing, communities have been torn apart and livelihoods destroyed. The time to act is now.”
Baroness Patricia Scotland, Elected Member at the City Corporation, and Secretary-General of the Commonwealth of Nations, who has been a driving force behind the donation, said:
“Hurricane Dorian is a heart-breaking disaster.
“Because of the swift actions of generous donors, voluntary agencies including Team Rubicon UK can bring relief to survivors of one of the most terrifying hurricanes on record.
“Their vital work on the humanitarian response to Cyclone Idai this year was remarkable, and I know their work will again be critically important in The Bahamas.
“We are encouraging City firms, workers and residents to support Team Rubicon UK’s appeal so that they can mobilise and deliver to those who are in acute need the practical assistance they offer, which is given voluntarily, and draws on broad range of expertise and frontline experience.”
Team Rubicon UK is coordinating with the Bahamas Ministry of Health, the National Emergency Management Agency, and the Pan-American Health Organization on the response.
The City of London Corporation gives millions of pounds to charities each year as part of its commitment to creating a fairer, more inclusive, and sustainable society.
Its charitable funder, City Bridge Trust, is London’s biggest independent grant giver, making grants of £20 million a year to combat deprivation and inequality. The Trust has awarded around 8,000 grants totalling over £400 million since it first began in 1995. It helps achieve the City Corporation’s aim of changing the lives of hundreds of thousands of Londoners.
Individuals and businesses can fundraise and donate at www.teamrubiconuk.org
ENDS
Media enquires:
Kristina Drake| Media Officer, Public Services
City of London Corporation
Kristina.Drake@cityoflondon.gov.uk
M: 07710860884
D: 020 7332 1125
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