|
Save the Children Relief Effort Gets a Lift
Westport, CT (October 27, 2005) –
 |
Save the Children's efforts to deliver emergency supplies to earthquake-hit Pakistan are really getting off the ground thanks to the generous offer of free air transport from Virgin Atlantic Airways.
The airline is donating the use of a Boeing 747 aircraft, with a cargo capacity of 55 tons, which will fly from London Gatwick to Islamabad on Monday evening. The plane will be filled with tents, tarpaulins and plastic sheeting to provide vital shelter to the many thousands of people left homeless by the earthquake on 8 October.
Ken Caldwell, Save the Children's Director of International Operations, said: "We are extremely grateful to everyone at Virgin Atlantic for this amazing offer. Our partnership with Virgin will enable us to really make a difference to the lives of hundreds of children and their families facing the onslaught of a harsh Himalayan winter."
Sir Richard Branson, Chairman of Virgin Atlantic, said: "Everybody who works for Virgin Atlantic has been shocked and saddened to see the devastation in Pakistan caused by the recent earthquake. This terrible tragedy has left thousands of families without shelter with a harsh winter fast approaching. With stocks of tents, blankets and other essential supplies now exhausted in Pakistan Save The Children and the aid agencies have no choice but to fly these supplies in.
"Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Unite have responded to this appalling tragedy by operating an aid flight to Islamabad carrying 55 tons of aid including tents, tarpaulin, plastic sheeting and children's clothing. We hope the British public and other British companies will continue to support the relief effort to avert a loss of life greater than the original earthquake."
More than a million people have been left homeless by the earthquake, which has led to huge demand on winter tents and other shelter in the area. Now that local markets have been exhausted it is important that supplies are flown in from elsewhere.
Adrian Uden, Save the Children's Supplies Manager, said: "It is a race against time to get shelter to people in the effected villages before the winter sets in. Virgin Atlantic has made it possible for us to get essential supplies to the region really quickly and our team on the ground in Pakistan has the mechanisms in place to distribute the supplies immediately. This will make a huge difference."
Immediately after the earthquake, Save the Children, which has worked in Pakistan for over 20 years, mobilized many of its 300 staff members in the country to provide immediate lifesaving relief and protection to vulnerable children.
So far the charity has helped establish a tented hospital, distributed hundreds of tents and thousands of blankets and food packages to families in the effected region. It has also assisted with the evacuation of 10 seriously injured children from a remote mountainous area north of Batagram and established a mother-child health centre at the Batagram field hospital.
As well as working in many areas of Pakistan, Save the Children is also working in some of the worst effected areas of India, where it has already provided emergency food and supplies kits to more than 1,000 families.
