Gaza appeal update

Twenty days of violence in the Gaza Strip at the start of the year resulted in the deaths of over 1,300 Palestinians.

A Palestinian child sits in front of destroyed houses in the northern Gaza Strip, Jan 19, 2009

PA Photos

Over 50,000 people were displaced from their homes and thousands were left without running water or electricity. Gaza’s hospitals were stretched to the limits and it was only as the conflict came to an end that the full extent of the humanitarian disaster began to emerge.

We launched an appeal on 26 January 2009 and sent immediate assistance to Gaza YMCA to help families who had lost their homes. During the war, volunteers from Gaza YMCA risked their lives to help displaced families who had found temporary shelter in UN schools, many of whom were children. They distributed bedding, blankets, clothes, cleaning materials and everyday toiletries. They provided families with hot meals and food such as bread, cheese and canned goods. They also arranged activities for children who had been left traumatised by the shelling of their homes.

Following the end of hostilities, Gaza YMCA continued to work with families who had been left homeless, providing food and children’s clothes. They built temporary shelters for 80 people in the northern Gaza Strip and are continuing to provide psychosocial support to children as they come to terms with the aftermath of the war.

Thank you to all those who gave to the appeal and to the following Building Societies for their support:

Cambridge Building Society
Cumberland Building Society
Dunfermline Building Society
Kent Reliance Building Society
Norwich & Peterborough Building Society
Nationwide Building Society
Northern Rock
Progressive Building Society
Skipton Building Society
Stroud & Swindon Building Society
Yorkshire Building Society